In 2019, the governments of Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador, and Bolivia signed the Leticia Pact, with the aim of stopping illegal deforestation and promoting sustainable development in the Amazon basin. However, The Pact, as it was conceived, and is now being implemented, lacks participation and representation, because it is not being developed based on an expanded and intercultural dialogue with the different actors in each country of the Amazon Basin.
Against this background, Plataforma CIPÓ, together with more than 70 civil society civil society organizations from Latin America, including indigenous and quilombolas’ groups, developed recommendations to make the Pact’s implementation process more inclusive and transparent. These include:
- Creating a multi-stakeholder dialogue process to review the Pact and its implementation strategies;
- Making the planning of the Pact transparent at the national level, including by establishing participatory and independent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms on the implementation of the Pact;
- Creating instruments, strategies and goals to guarantee the recognition and regularization of the territorial rights of indigenous peoples and other traditional communities;
- Including and promoting initiatives of indigenous peoples for the protection of the Amazon;
- Developing measures to ensure the protection of environmental and indigenous defenders, with the Escazú Agreement being a key element for the development of the Pact;
- Incorporation of an inclusive vision of the bioeconomy that involves the Amazonian communities in a fair and respectful way, prioritizing their initiatives for good living and life plans;
- Building a clear and innovative strategy on sustainable and inclusive infrastructure.
