CESE holds VI Meeting with International Cooperation Agencies
28 de March de 2017Following two days of listening and reflecting with the social movements on Monday and Tuesday, CESE launched the VI Meeting between CESE and the Agencies. The meeting, held on 15 and 16 March, is a time for sharing and reporting on the position of the international cooperation agencies, given the current political situation in Brazil.
Stefan Kramer, from Misereor, considered the meeting important for debating new perspectives. “In this situation, in which we are experiencing political changes and threats to the social movements, I think this arena for dialogue between the agencies and grassroots groups is extremely important. Another important issue is the ability to create joint strategies and alternative modes of work in relation to the transformations that are taking place in the economic and ecological world, and which directly affect the social movements”.
During the discussions, questions were asked about the grassroots groups’ advocacy activities in relation to rights attained, and how CESE will, through its mission, construct strategies to continue strengthening the social movements in the struggle for democracy and justice.
“The idea of creating an arena in which the social movements set out proposals for CESE to embrace is a means of demonstrating commitment to grassroots groups and a way of ensuring they see themselves reflected in the organization. This is also an opportunity for the agencies to hear about what is happening on the ground, to see the social movements’ reactions to the political changes and to learn about their reflections for the organizations and the struggle”, Alexandre Menezes, from TDH, pointed out.
Representatives from Action Aid, Misereor (Germany), Heks (Switzerland), Terre des Hommes (Schweiz), Terre des Hommes (Suisse), Brot für die Welt (Germany) and Fastenopfer (Canada) participated in the meeting.
For Mathias Fernsebner – Brot für die Welt the arena was significant because it gave voice to the social movements at this time of losses in Brazil. “CESE has opened its doors to those actors who are working in Brazil now, given that the political situation is threatening human rights and the arenas for civil society participation are shrinking. I think it’s very important to have these two days of dialogue, with the other partners present here, as well as for CESE, which is a great networker for the various causes of the indigenous struggle, for housing, for the right to land, and others”.
“It was a very rich experience, not only for me, but also for the social movements that were able to share their reading of the current context. For us at Heks, which is in the process of preparing a new phase and needs to do a lot of listening, this arena is very important,” added Vicente José – Heks.
Supporters
Networks
