Who & Where We Fund / Africa
Previous Grantees
Botswana
Rebecca Adamson has been active with Indigenous issues in Botswana since her trip to meet with San communities and hold a workshop on Land and Law in Botswana in 1997. First Peoples has long supported the San as they work to claim legal tenure to their land. First Peoples was instrumental in the landmark court case taken before the Supreme Court of Botswana in 2004 with a ruling given at the end of 2006 in which the San won legal rights to their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Displaced or relocated from their land, the San won the right to resettle their homelands. Despite this judicial ruling, other parties have continued to deny the San access to their land. 2008 marks over a decade of First Peoples’ involvement with Indigenous communities in Botswana. First Peoples reached this exciting milestone and made the first three grants to organizations working with San communities in Botswana.
Even with the Supreme Court ruling, the San continue to struggle to survive and resettle their homelands. First Peoples has made grants to Ditshwanelo – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, The First People of the Kalahari, and Letloa Trust, all local Indigenous groups in Botswana helping the San. With First Peoples’ grants, these three organizations are working to promote and enhance the livelihoods of the San people in their ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), by providing water, transportation to the Reserve, and transportation between the Reserve and health facilities outside the Reserve. These organizations are aiding those who were forced to move from the CKGR and those who maintained their lives in the CKGR despite facing innumerable hardships. The San people have never received any assistance from the government of Botswana and, therefore, the funding First Peoples was able to provide was even more imperative. Preliminary assessments show that we were able to provide a way home for some of the San and potable water that is much needed for survival. The San are still fighting to return to their homelands and, through funding, we are facilitating their hard-fought struggles and much-deserved successes for land tenure.
Ethiopia
The Mursi of East Africa are also completing projects to protect their land and culture. First Peoples is funding work in Ethiopia through Action for Environmental Public Advocacy (AEPA) and Native Solutions to Conservation Refugees, who are both working with Mursi communities. The Mursi are a pastoral community living in the South Omo Valley in Southwest Ethiopia and number between 6,000 and 10,000. Because their homelands in the Omo Valley are so rich in resources and biodiversity, the Mursi currently face potential eviction for the creation of a national park. The Mursi are successfully resisting current threats, but realize that eviction will render their communities completely dependent on outside aid.
Action for Environmental Public Advocacy’s mission of empowering Indigenous communities to play decisive roles in conserving their bio-cultural diversity, promoting environmentally friendly livelihoods, and ensuring environmental sustainability of any development actions is directly in line with the aim of the Keepers of the Earth Fund. AEPA is facilitating the creation of a Mursi-designed organization. This community-based association allows the Mursi to work with local government officials and development organizations to improve their lives. The creation of this Mursi Community Association contributes to the overall effectiveness and sustainability of development in the Omo Region through community-based projects.
As a separate project, Native Solutions to Conservation Refugees works closely with Mursi communities that are threatened by displacement from their land by conservation and environmental factors. Through community-based efforts, the Mursi are developing a network of communities to unite their people. Through this strengthening of communities, the Mursi are working to protect their unique Indigenous heritage and culture while defending their homelands. With the grant from First Peoples, Native Solutions purchased a satellite laptop and phone system, which, for the first time in history, allowed Mursi communities to have the power to interact and connect with the global community by means of the Internet to gather a broad base of support for their work. Ultimately, the Mursi are working as a united group to negotiate co-management rights in the parks under development in the Omo Valley.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
First Peoples provided funding for the Union of Associations for Gorillas Conservation and Community Development in East DRC (UGADEC) in conjunction with the Pygmee Integration and Development Program (PIDP) that is helping these two groups aid in the survival of the Batwa (Pygmies) of Central Africa. The Batwa represent 2% of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s population and number approximately 9,000. The Batwa live in extreme poverty following expulsion without compensation, from their homelands in order to create national parks. Because the view of Indigenous Peoples in Central Africa is so derogatory, the Batwa are considered sub-human. The Batwa, therefore, are the most vulnerable faction of DRC’s population, lacking access to their traditional natural resources, government-sponsored health services, shelter, and civil rights. Beyond this, Batwa homes have been destroyed because of a recent civil war, leaving the community in a humanitarian crisis. While the Batwa are on the verge of extinction, UGADEC is working with the Batwa of Cyanzu to quickly stabilize the crisis situation. With First Peoples funds, the Batwa are receiving tarps to live in and minimal tools to learn to plant potatoes for survival. For the Batwa, the immediate concern is survival. Hopefully, this grant will help to stabilize the Batwa community. Building from this success, First Peoples is looking into purchasing land for the Batwa to own until they reach their ultimate goal of returning home.
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First Peoples Worldwide - A Tides Center project
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