Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Entwicklung und Humanitäre Hilfe
Challenge 2023
A challenge by WELTHAUS GRAZ for the Co-Creation Workshop 2023 on 14.11.2023
How can those affected by land conflicts in Brazil document violations quickly and securely using technical tools? How can an early warning system be established using technological support?
Traditional communities throughout Brazil (smallholder families, indigenous peoples and descendants of slaves) suffering from land conflicts.
The Pastoral Land Commission CPT (Comissão Pastoral da Terra) in Brazil, which supports the local population in land conflicts, offers legal advice and writes an annual land conflict report. It wants to expand its documentation, make it more comprehensive and safer for those affected.
Traditional communities in Brazil have often lived on their land for generations – but often without official land titles. A presidential decree in 2007 recognised traditional communities and their rights. However, the implementation of these rights is slow; laws guaranteeing families to remain in their territory are neither legally nor politically enforced by the state. Instead, the country is marked by structural violence, with which communities are evicted from their land – caused by the land hunger of large-scale projects for agribusiness, mining, energy production and land speculation. Every four hours, this results in a conflict in Brazil in which traditional communities suffer intimidation, destruction of their fields, death threats, assassination attempts and murders because they are fighting for the implementation of their rights.
The use of new technologies such as smartphones etc. is very common in Brazil, even in traditional communities. Network coverage varies.
About Welthaus Graz
Welthaus Graz, the development policy organisation of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau, has been working with the CPT in Brazil for decades. The preservation and safeguarding of livelihoods – especially access to land – are central issues here.
Date Follow-Up Session: 29 November 2023, 3 – 4 p.m.
Note: The team will work in English during the workshop to enable the participation of local experts.
More information about the co-creation workshop 2023
