The work of NGOs and collectives from Global South countries that focus on climate and social issues share similarities. In August, 36 participants from organizations based in 15 countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia gathered in Santos, São Paulo, to exchange experiences and methodologies regarding their actions in the third sector of their countries.
The South x South: The Peripheries at the Center of Climate Justice and Well-Being meeting brought together communicators, organizers, creatives, and activists with common purposes related to the fight for climate justice and actions connected to human rights. The event was organized by the Instituto Procomum, in partnership with the UMI Fund, an international organization dedicated to supporting innovative projects for climate justice. Nonada was one of the organizations invited to the event.
Divya Narayanan, an Indian public health and human rights graduate, participated in the LAB. She is the executive director of Jhatkaa, an organization specializing in mobilizing the Indian population for causes related to climate change, and social and gender inequalities. “Jhatkaa” is a word in Hindi meaning “shake” or “jolt.” The term also represents the sound of movement and signifies the questioning of the status quo through the organization’s work. Their main form of action is organizing campaigns, petitions, and working with the media to make democracy more accessible in the country. Since 2012, the organization has been engaging people on three fronts: climate justice, social and economic equality, and gender equity.
At the South x South meeting, Divya highlighted the presence of social and cultural agents from different continents, from decolonial perspectives. “It was very interesting to witness the group’s diversity. It made a big difference to be with people exclusively from the Global South because we were not coming from a Eurocentric perspective,” she says. For her, the discussions with NGOs focused on sharing messages and the paths they are taking. Divya has been fully involved in the third sector for 12 years. The activist believes that non-governmental organizations have the ability to imagine other futures and solutions that escape corporate thinking. “Non-governmental organizations provide spaces where people can come together, create solidarity networks, and imagine other futures.”
Divya’s attendance at the event organized by Procomum marked her first time in a South American country. Although she lives in India and has traveled to various countries for work, she was surprised to notice the similarities between Brazil and her home country. During the five-day event, participants engaged in debates, met with funders, and developed prototypes. They were also able to benefit from the Care Tent, a space set up in the courtyard of the Procomum LAB headquarters, where at any time of the day, they could receive a massage or share their dreams in a supportive environment.
A space dedicated to the well-being of participants is an integrative practice adopted in other Procomum Institute initiatives, such as the La Cuida project, held in 2023. This project brought together initiatives related to the Care Economy (including agroecology, community kitchens, popular festivals, defense of human rights, and traditional populations, among others) from Latin American countries. As a standard practice, Procomum maintains a specialized care team—different from healthcare—responsible for ensuring that participants feel comfortable during activities. At the South x South event, the care team organized forró dance classes and canoeing for the participants, working within an “anti-productivist” logic, cultivated by non-Western traditions.
Divya shared that having a team focused on “checking in” with each person, respecting individual boundaries—since no activity was mandatory—made her feel a sense of belonging. “I felt at home because there was an abundance of food at the event, which reminded me a lot of the relationship we have with food,” she commented. “In addition, there was an emphasis on how we need to take care of ourselves before taking care of others, like our teams in organizations.”
The executive director of the Instituto Procomum, Georgia Nicolau, explains that the idea for the project came from previous labs carried out by the institute. Since 2016, the organization has been developing projects that promote initiatives, research, mentorships, and meetings that advocate for common goods (whether in nature, the economy, science, education, technology, or culture). The care policy built over the years is the result of the very references of thought that guide the team’s work: “Procomum is very connected to the Afro-Latin worldview of what the commons means,” Georgia explains. Lélia Gonzalez, Bianca Santana, and Antônio Bispo dos Santos are some of the thinkers who underpin their practices. “You can’t imagine futures if you don’t have care at the center,” Georgia emphasizes.
The event’s planning involved the concept that civil society organizations have a lot to learn from each other, as they operate transversally in the fight for climate justice. Participants from all regions of the country were present, engaging in dialogue with managers and activists from countries such as Chile, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, Kenya, and Lebanon. According to Georgia, the South x South event is a moment for reflection, allowing the organizations themselves time to look inward as producers of knowledge. She notes that there is a great deal of knowledge produced by the third sector that is often neither systematized nor recorded for posterity.
“In meeting others, you gain a greater understanding of what you are capable of expanding in your own ways of acting. That is very enriching,” explains the director about the dynamics of the South x South event. “Non-governmental organizations hold a wealth of knowledge about collectivity, solutions, and their own arrangements.” For Georgia, the effects of these meetings are long-term, but can already be seen in the emotional connections that have formed and the professional contacts that may lead to future projects among the different NGOs.
Valuing the Territory
Walter Oliveira da Silva, an indigenous educommunicator from the Kumaruara people, is the founder of the Coletivo Jovem Tapajônico, an organization focused on spreading information to young indigenous people about the environment, politics, gender, sexuality, territories, and culture. For him, participating in the LAB provided recognition of the territory as the primary place for reflection. Beyond cultural differences, Walter emphasizes that organized civil society faces challenges and shares potential across the Global South.
“What struck me most was the exchange with people from other countries. There are so many things happening in the world, and often, we believe that only we are going through them,” says Walter. He points out that the conversation with funders, representatives from funding bodies, was important for him to present the collective. “Dialogue is crucial for funders to understand the dynamics of each territory, each language, because often we can’t access projects due to bureaucratic barriers.”
For the communicator, the policy of care can only be implemented if it is in dialogue with youth. The collective provides information to young indigenous people about their rights, encouraging political and civic engagement, such as choosing candidates during elections and producing content for young people. In Santarém (PA), where he lives and works, disputes are constantly at the forefront. “Our work within the territory comes from youth leadership through education and information. We operate in a territory where one side is a mining company and the other is soybean monoculture. In the middle, there is a river that carries our blood and the blood of our relatives.”
One of the Coletivo Jovem Tapajônico’s projects is the Piracaia de Saberes and the Piracaião Festival, moments when various topics related to the territory, politics, and climate are addressed with young people. Piracaia, in the Tupi indigenous language, means roasted fish, a tradition of indigenous peoples that seeks to bring people together to celebrate food. The gatherings are led by local leaders who encourage young people to take ownership of their knowledge to inform their decisions. The collective also operates from an expanded perspective of indigenous education.
“We know that geography, history, and mathematics are deeply embedded in our territory, but how can we get teachers to see that?” Walter explains. “We don’t need to look far for answers. Our elders are living libraries.”
For Rafael Gloria, the executive director of Nonada, the five days of the LAB represented an empowerment of the work already being done by each organization. Like other participants, Rafael highlighted care as a policy, the focus on accessibility—since all panels were translated—and the encouragement to believe in one’s own work. “I was impressed by getting to know projects from other parts of the world and realizing how NGOs face the same challenges as we do, and that they are creating solutions for those challenges. In a gathering like this, we notice that people everywhere are creating ways to resist and improve their surroundings,” he summarizes.
*This article was translated using Artificial Intelligence
Leia em português:
Organizações do sul global que lutam por Justiça Climática se reúnem em encontro baseado na política do cuidado
