Tributaries and confluences: VCA is a river

How far have we come? Like tributaries that create confluences and make a river take shape, the four years of the Voices for Just Climate Action Program (VCA) in Brazil have led to a network of more than 80 organizations grouped into 15 coalitions that have contributed to the debate on climate justice in the Legal Amazon, with the protagonism of the territories and the people who live in them.

“With VCA, in the last two years we’ve started to bring up more on the climate change debate, which we didn’t have much of,” said Liliane Xavier, executive secretary of Rede Juruena Vivo, a member of the NÓS coalition.

This feeling was shared by many over the course of three days together at the VI VCA Brazil Partners Forum, the last official face-to-face meeting of the program in Brazil. The meeting, which took place in Brasilia from March 11 to 13, brought together representatives of these 15 coalitions to celebrate the achievements of the four years of the project, reflect on the challenges and talk about the future. In difficult times, but treading softly on the earth, it is always a breath of hope to bring the diverse VCA network together.

“Every cell in my body is energized by the power we see in the actions of our partners and in the strength of this program. A lot of things are still reverberating. They won’t settle down until I get home,” said Rogenir Almeida, from Fundación Avina.

“For us, the organizations that formed this alliance here in Brazil – WWF-Brazil, Hivos, Avina, IEB – VCA has been a space for learning and deconstruction. We’ve made mistakes at times, but we’ve been humble enough to recognize them and make adjustments. And we were attentive and careful to look beyond the program to complement the actions of the organizations that are part of this network,” he added.

Starting in 2021, the ambition of the program in Brazil was that by 2025 the local populations of the Legal Amazon, both rural and urban, especially women and young people, would occupy a central role in discussions on climate justice, proposing solutions and actions, and having their voices amplified and heard in decision-making spaces that impact their ways of life. To this end, the projects addressed three main axes: training (qualification of people and local leaders on various topics); narratives and communication (storytelling); and collective and collaborative advocacy to transform policies and financial flows. In addition, the program emphasized the importance of building movements, training people and creating networks by connecting people and organizations.

This aspect was mentioned a lot at the event, reinforcing the importance of the encouragement given at the beginning of the program in Brazil for organizations to submit proposals in coalitions, connecting, supporting and complementing each other.

“VCA brought us this idea of working in coalitions, showing that we don’t have to work alone, but rather make alliances,” said Ianny Borari, from the School of Activism.

During the three days of the Forum, different activities were held in the mornings, with presentations on the program’s actions and debates on key issues for the network. In the afternoons, there were VAC tributaries, a space where each coalition could present its achievements, highlights and challenges in implementing projects over the four years of VAC. These actions and results made up a timeline that grew little by little, like a river and its confluences.

Angélica Mendes, from WWF-Brazil, who has participated in the Regional Team Brazil program since its inception, recalled the project’s major milestones and highlighted how the VAC promoted transformations in people and organizations, especially the protagonism of people in the territories of the Legal Amazon.

“VCA has already arrived, transforming our organizations. We see many organizations talking about the Amazon, but few Amazonians involved. And with VCA we’ve noticed this turning point, this organizational transformation where we see in the leaders always the search to have people from the Amazon.”

On the first day, we began to build the timeline by recalling VCA’s major collective milestones and the program’s communication actions. On the second day, we had a collective analysis of the political situation, facilitated by Juliana Strobel from Fundación Avina, and a presentation by the Casa Socioambiental Fund on the Call for Environmental Defenders and Climate Emergencies, a VCA initiative led by the Fund, which will bring new possibilities for support from a new call. On the third day, we had a morning to discuss the journey towards COP 30 and understand the perceptions of each organization about the conference that will take place in Belém do Pará in November.

Paula Moreira, manager of Hivos in Brazil, stressed the importance of the program in connecting Brazilian civil society with that of African countries.

“From the program in Brazil, strong connections were created (or rescued) with VAC programs in various parts of Africa, such as Tunisia, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa and Uganda, emphasizing Brazil’s roots due to the African diaspora. Bringing these voices together through VAC has led to a more powerful advocacy in global forums,” he said.

At the end of the three days, the meeting came to a close with the shared feeling that this small VCA spring has been expanding over the years of the project’s implementation, branching out into a variety of tributaries to become a deep and voluminous river, full of life and achievements. VCA program is still heading towards its final year of operation in Brazil in 2025.

VOICES FOR JUST CLIMATE ACTION

Voices for Just Climate Action (VAC) is a global alliance created by six civil society organizations (WWF, Hivos, Fundación Avina, SouthSouthNorth (SSN), Akina Mama wa Afrika and Shack Dwellers International (SDI)) and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with actions in seven countries in the Global South. In addition to Brazil, VAC is also present in Bolivia, Paraguay, Tunisia, Kenya, Zambia and Indonesia.

In Brazil, the program is coordinated by Fundación Avina, Hivos, Instituto Internacional de Educação do Brasil – IEB, WWF-Brasil and Fundo Casa. Since 2021, it has supported more than 80 organizations, movements and collectives, articulated in 15 coalitions.

To find out more about the VCA programme in Brazil, read the 3 editions of the magazine Voices for Fair Climate Action, here.