The Brazil’s Indigenous People Articulation – APIB is an agglutination instance and national reference of Brazil’s indigenous movement, that was born with the purpose of:
– strengthen the indigenous peoples unity and the articulation among the different regions and indigenous organizations in the country;
– Unify the indigenous people struggle, the list of claims and demands and the indigenous movement politics;
– mobilize the indigenous peoples and organizations of the country against the threats and attacks to the indigenous rights.
The creation
APIB was created by the free Land Camp (ATL) of 2005, the national mobilization that is performed every year, from 2004, to make visible the indigenous rights situation and claim from the brazilian State the demands and claims attendance of the indigenous people.
Organizations
Are part of the APIB the following indigenous regional organizations: Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo Indigenous People Articulation (APOINME), Terena People Board, Southeast, Indigenous Peoples Articulation (ARPINSUDESTE), South Indigenous People Articulation (ARPINSUL), Great Council of the Guarani people (ATY GUASU), Brazilian Amazon Indigenous Organizations Coordination (COIAB) and Yvyrupa Guarani Commission.
Mission
Indigenous rights promotion and defense, parting from the indigenous organizations and peoples articulation and unity from the most distinct regions of the country.
Goals
→Promote mobilizations and permanent articulation of the Indigenous Movement, on the different regions and in a national level.
→ Formulate and implement a leadership and national organizations Formation Program.
→ Evaluate and focus on the Public Policies making and implementation that are specific and differentiated turned to the indigenous peoples, in the distinct areas of their interest: health, education, lands, environment, legislation, sustainability, human rights and participation and social control.
→ Develop a program of information and communication about indigenous rights reality, together with the indigenous movement bases, the State and the national and international public opinion.
→ Build and strengthen alliances with the international indigenous movement and other social movements, such as partnerships with institutes and solidarity networks and the social causes.
→ Guarantee institutional and organizational infrastructure such as the maintenance of the political and technical team necessary to implement APIB’s action plan.
Demands
The indigenous movement articulated by APIB claims from the Brazilian state the attendance of the following measures:
→ Indigenous lands demarcation, disinfection and protection.
Indigenist Legislation
– Indigenous People New Statute Approval;
– Approval of the Law Project that creates the Indigenist Policy National Board (CNPI);
– rejection of anti-indigenous legislative initiatives (LP and CAP) that try to reverse the rights secured by the 1988 Federal Constitution;
– Enforcement of International Labour Organization (ILO) Treaty 169 and the UN Declaration about the indigenous peoples rights, that assure the right to free previous and informed query about any subject that affects us;
– Justice: end of violence and criminalization against indigenous leaderships and communities, as a result of the struggle for land.
Indigenous Health:
– Creation of the Indigenous Health Special Secretary;
– Indigenous Health Agents (IHA) and Sanitation Indigenous Agents (SANIA) acknowledge and category formation;
– Effective political, administrative and financial autonomy of the Indigenous Special Sanitary Districts (ISSD);
Indigenous School Education:
→ Differentiated education, complete and quality middle school and high school, professionalizing school, access to higher education, with special programs and courses designed to meet the needs of indigenous people
Territorial and sustainability Management:
→ Indigenous Lands Environmental Management National Policy (ILMNP) consolidation and implementation.
Participation and Social Control:
→Equal participation in different governmental bodies (commissions, boards and work groups) that discuss and guide the indigenous people public policies implementation.
Structure
→ Free Land Camp
APIBs superior instance is the Free Land Camp (FLC), the biggest national indigenous mobilization, that gathers, every year, at the Ministries Esplanade, in Brasília-DF, Brazil capitol, more than 1000 leaderships from all regions of the country, under coordination of regional indigenous organizations that form APIB.
ATL allows the distinct experiences and realities exchange, the common problem identifying, the main demands and claims definition, and the deliberation about the programmatic axes and priority actions of APIB.
→National Forum of Indigenous Leaderships / Regional indigenous organizations.
To enable the deliberations and referrals of the free Land Camp, the leaders of the APIB base organizations, approximately 40 leaders, constitute the Indigenous Leadership National Forum (ILNF) which meets twice a year , with the goal to evaluate and define APIBs action plan.
→APIB Permanent National Commission
APIBs action plan execution is responsibility of a Permanent National Commission (PNC) established in Brasília-DF, constituted by regional indigenous organizations representatives that compose APIB. The action plan consists on a series of actions that seek to effect the mission, the strategic goals and the organization central demands , such as:
– National Indigenous Mobilization (Free Land Camp);
– Indigenous mobilizations and actions on local and regional level;
– Themed seminars, formation courses and indigenous leaderships and organizations training;
– Indigenous Leaderships National Forum (ILNF) meetings;
– Actions of exchange and solidarity amongst the regions;
– Indigenous Rights Defense Forum (IRDF) meetings;
– Participation of mobilization and articulation initiatives of international indigenous movement, mainly latin american;
– Participation on international events promoted in scope of the United Nations (UN), such as indigenous issues Permanent Forum;
– Amplifying and strengthening alliances with other segments and social movements;
– Articulations and monitoring of Legislative and Judiciary powers;
– Participating in governmental and non-governmental instances that discuss indigenous rights.