*By Julia Bahia
As part of the journey for struggles and rights, the 3rd Indigenous Women's March took place this month in Brasília, being the largest event in the country held by and for indigenous women to demand their original rights. This year, the biggest demands were for political representation and an end to gender-based violence. The event brought together 6,000 women from different peoples, territories and biomes. In addition to the event, this month was also marked by the end of the Temporal Framework for the demarcation of indigenous lands, a rejection made by the STF that limited the demarcation of indigenous lands only to regions occupied in 1988, the date of the promulgation of the current Federal Constitution. The decision is seen as a great victory for the indigenous movement, eliminating the time limit for officializing indigenous territories.
In light of so many events and driven by the strength and importance of this month, Humana will begin implementing the second phase of the Life Plan in October and aims to generate economic development for indigenous girls and women belonging to the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe community in Bahia. The project brings together a range of socio-educational guidelines that aim to help indigenous women have the autonomy to create their own life plan, based on financial, socio-emotional and intellectual autonomy.
As part of the Economic Development Program, the Life Plan will benefit indigenous girls and women in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability, between the ages of 16 and 24. The main objective is to break cycles of violence and socioeconomic vulnerability, in addition to influencing the continuity of the program in the territory to impact future generations. The program is implemented by Humana and has investment from Localiza Institute and financial management of Sitawi Finances for Good, institutions that provide financial and philanthropic support to the project.
In the view of Hamangaí Pataxó, a counselor at Humana and the Plano de Vida program, the main expected impact is to empower girls and women in her community: "My hope is that the project will play a role in empowering these voices, these dreams, that individual dreams are also collective dreams, and that we can build together and strengthen so that the dreams of others can come true. I think the impact is really having this movement of empowerment, autonomy, strengthening these girls, of welcoming them as well, and that we can structure something to provide opportunities for young indigenous women."
Over a 12-month period, the goal is to carry out educational activities, with workshops and mentoring sessions with professionals from areas linked to the program to facilitate the process within the community itself. The educational syllabus was developed by experts and covers topics that aim to support indigenous girls and women in their development. The project methodology was defined based on scientific evidence that indicates that the age range marked by the end of adolescence and the beginning of adulthood is the time when young women are faced with decisions that will influence their entire life trajectory in the intellectual, socio-emotional and financial spheres.
We know that the dynamics in an indigenous context are based on the community's own functioning and that this will be respected at all times during the execution of the project. The project will always be guided by the premise of impacting and supporting the economic development of girls and women, but this will be done and developed through autonomy, aiming to avoid imposing non-indigenous standards.
“It is very rewarding to follow the evolution of Humana’s actions in favor of the rights of girls and women. The renewal of this partnership only reinforces to us that we are on the right path of supporting social and environmental initiatives that make a difference. We have high expectations for the new program aimed at Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe women and girls and we hope it will be a success”, says Joana Eisenstadter, Philanthropy Management Coordinator at Sitawi.
