The process of strengthening the traditional governance of the Indigenous Peoples of Panama continues

Four Indigenous territories in Panama initiated a process of collective elaboration of new Organic Charters and Internal Regulations.

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Started in October 2022, the traditional authorities of four Indigenous territories in Panama (Comarca Naso Tjër Di, Comarca Kuna de Madungandi, the Emberá and Wounaan Collective Lands of Darién, and the National Congress of the Wounaan People) began a process to strengthen their territorial governance systems through the collective drafting of new Organic Charters and Internal Regulations.

For Indigenous Peoples an Organic Charter and Internal Regulations is a legal document that organizes and establishes: 1) Criteria for the election of local, regional or general authorities; 2) Uses and rights over the land and the conservation of nature; 3) Social norms related to traditional and plant medicine; and 4) Mechanisms that ensure gender parity in the representation of authorities.

In May 2023, the four territories that initiated these processes have suceeded in validating the drafts of their Organic Charters and Internal Regulations before their local and general authorities and in the presence of government representatives.

The Kuna Comarca of Madungandi approved through an assembly/workshop the Internal Regulations of its General Congress in the community of Ibedi on May 10, with the participation of 50 sahilas (local Kuna authorities) and their argar (interpreters of the sahilas).

Act of validation of the Internal Regulations of the Tuira Region of the Emberá, Wounaan and Eyabida Collective Lands of Darién, community of Pijibasal.

A week later, the same process was carried out in the community of Pijibasal in the province of Darien, in the Regional Congress of the Tuira, which belongs to the Embera and Wounaan Collective Lands of Darien; with the participation of 50 local Embera, Wounaan and Eyabida authorities (known as Noko, Chi Pör and Buru according to each community).

Thirty people from the community also participated in both workshops, including children, youth, women and elders with a voice and vote to contribute to the disucssion, as the workshops are open to the general public.

COMARCA KUNA DE MADUNGANDI

In the last 8 months, the technical team of the Madungandi General Congress analyzed, together with sahilas and argar, more than 100 articles that establish, for example, the main functions of the community authorities (sahilas, argar and sualibed or community police), their reasons for dismissal and election, and developed the rights to land, hunting and family from the Kuna way of thinking.

To reach a consensus on the content of the document, two four-day workshops were convened between October and February 2022-2023, attended by more than 30 authorities and officials of the Madungandi General Congress, both of which were held in Akua Yala, the capital of the comarca.

A significant challenge was to transcribe all the procedures, functions, methods and other elements that already exist and are used by the Kunas of Madungandi into the final document that will be submitted to the Ministry of Government for approval.

View of the bridge over Lake Bayano from the Madungandi General Congress offices in the Akua Yala community.

Vista del puente sobre el lago Bayano desde las oficinas del Congreso General de Madungandi en la comunidad de Akua Yala.

EMBERÁ, WOUNAAN AND EYABIDA COLLECTIVE LANDS

In Panama, the title of Collective Lands is granted to Indigenous communities that were left out of a Comarca when the Comarcas were created. The title of Collective Lands represents the ancestral right to the sovereignty of their territory for the people who inhabit it.

Such is the case of the Emberá and Wounaan Collective Lands of Darién, where the Eyabida people have also been living for some years. The Eyabida were persecuted by the internal conflicts in Colombia, where they originate. The process of elaboration of the Internal Regulations of the Tuira Region served then as a propitious moment to officially establish the Eyabida People as inhabitants of the Collective Lands.

Law student Benicio Domicó participated in the last two workshops and his contributions from perspective of the Eyabida identity were essential in drafting the Internal Regulations.

At the workshops, first held in the community of Mercadeo in November 2022 and a second in the community of Bajo Lepe in March 2023, more than 30 traditional authorities, mostly Nokora (Emberá) and to a lesser extent Chi Pörnaan (Wounaan) and Burura (Eyabida), analyzed and interpreted the text that mandates ways to administer justice, certify authorities and marriages, establishes collective rights over the use of natural resources and restrictions on activities of outsiders within the territory.

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

Although there are few women in decision-making positions in both territories, the drafting of the Internal Regulations provided an opportunity for Emberá and Kuna leaders to create spaces where their proposals and needs could be heard within their General and Regional Congresses.

In Madungandi, a territory where there have not been any women Sahila, it was agreed that the women would have a representative in the General Congress, who would be elected by the women themselves and would have the right to speak and vote in the Congress.

In the Tuira Region, two key leaders participated in all the workshops: the deputy general cacique, Lucrecia Caisamo, and the Noko of the Pijibasal community, Lucia Flaco, who contributed to the consensus on issues related to land care, traditions, and the community economy.

From left to right: Pijibasal’s Noko, Lucía Flaco, talks with the deputy cacique general, Lucrecia Caisamo, during the workshops in the Bajo Lepe community.

DISPUTED TERRITORIES

The population of the Kuna Comarca of Madungandi and the Emberá and Wounaan Collective Lands of Darién have been strongly affected by megaprojects imposed on their territories.

Akua Yala, capital of Madungandi, is a relocated community. Their ancestral territory was completely flooded as a result of the construction of the Bayano Hydroelectric Dam in the 1970s. Likewise, the Alto Bayano Collective Lands, which include the communities of Ipetí and Piriatí Emberá in East Panama, were also relocated.

The disappearance of native forests and the poor quality of the land in the areas to which they were relocated has caused significant cultural losses. Without forests, these Peoples cannot practice or adequately transmit traditional knowledge about land use, medicinal plants, or ecosystem conservation.

Another example is the Bajo Lepe community, site of the second workshop, whose location is affected by the concession of 325,000 hectares from the State of Panama to the oil company Sinclair Panama Oil Corporation in 2018, as denounced by community members on the way to the workshop.

During the trip to the community of Pijibasal, one could see fields stripped bare by illegal and indiscriminate logging.

IMPACT OF THE PROJECT

The collective work of the communities to organize their governance and develop social, cultural, economic and conservation norms based on discussions open to the entire community have served to raise awareness among young people, local leaders, elders, and authorities about their rights as Indigenous Peoples.

Throughout the process of drafting the Organic Charters and/or Internal Regulations of the four territories benefiting from the Strengthening the Indigenous Agenda Project (FAIP), the communities demonstrated interest in knowing and understanding the rules that govern them.

FAIP aims to strengthen the political structures of the Comarca Naso Tjër Di, the Comarca Kuna de Madungandi, the Emberá and Wounaan Collective Lands of Darién, and the National Congress of the Wounaan People by drafting and publishing their organic charters or internal regulations.

FAIP is funded by USAID and FSC, implemented by the FSC Indigenous Foundation and framed within the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance for Rights and Development (IPARD) program, executed in coordination with AMPB, CMLT and AMARIE.

Panama’s President signs decree adopting the Indigenous Women’s Empowerment Plan

Indigenous women’s leadership and teamwork were important to achieve his historic act

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On the occasion of Indigenous Women’s Day, President of the Republic of Panama Laurentino Cortizo Cohen signed the Executive Decree adopting the Plan for the Empowerment of Indigenous Women of Panama (PEMIP 2025).

“We don’t want to be in the statistics of vulnerability. We want to be in the statistics of empowered women, breaking barriers, women who fight every day to develop their territories,” said Sara Omi, PEMIP 2025 Coordinator and Emberá leader.

It was a historic act in which for the first time in the Republic of Panama a public policy of gender inclusion was established, aimed at promoting the integral development of Indigenous women within and outside the Indigenous territories.

“With this sanction, for the first time a public policy is established for the integral development of Indigenous women, important pillars for the conservation of their culture, demonstrating great leadership and capacity to contribute to the development of the nation,” said President Cortizo.

About PEMIP

The Economic Empowerment Plan for Indigenous Women of Panama (PEMIP 2025) is a pioneering initiative that seeks to unite commitments between Indigenous women and public, private, and civil society actors, to carry out concrete actions that provide more and better opportunities for Indigenous women to fully develop their potential and capacity to contribute to the development and well-being of their families, territories, and country.

Its objective is to advance the autonomy, full inclusion, and effective exercise of the economic rights of Indigenous women, without any type of discrimination and based on their protagonism and self-determination, with a timeline from 2022-2025.

Signing ceremony

The key message of this event was teamwork. The Plan is a multisectoral initiative with the participation of 69 entities, such as public sector institutions governing economic-labor policies (Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Labor and Labor Development, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Authority), private sector (CECOM), development of Indigenous Peoples (Advisory Committee of Indigenous Women of Panama – CAMIP), NGOs (FSC Indigenous Foundation, City of Knowledge, AECID) and multilateral banks (Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Development Program).

At the event, we heard from Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, President of the Republic, Roger Tejada Bryden, Minister of MINGOB, Briseida Iglesias, Guna Ancestral Sage, Sara Omi Casamá, National Coordinator of PEMIP 2025, Meybi Chamarra, Coordinator of CAMIP, Aulina Ismare Opua, Cacica of the National Congress of the Wounaan People and member of the National Council for the Integral Development of Indigenous Peoples of Panama (CONDIPI), Ana Grigera, Gender and Diversity Specialist of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and María Ángeles Sallé, member of the PEMIP Technical Assistance Team and ENRED Panama.

A success factor to reach this day was that all stakeholders listened to Indigenous women and were open to working with different communities and empowering Indigenous leaders.

The Ministry of Government acknowledged that the FSC Indigenous Foundation plays an important role in facilitating this process.

How we support PEMIP 2025

The FSC Indigenous Foundation (FSC-IF) is supporting the governance and implementation of this plan through the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance for Rights and Development (IPARD) Program, working with Indigenous women and guided by their wisdom, knowledge, innovation, and leadership. IPARD is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and other private sector partners.

FSC-IF has a leading role in the PEMIP Strategic Sustainability Committee, working together with the IDB, CAMIP, the Ministry of Government, and ENRED, achieving many advances for the institutional strengthening of PEMIP and the implementation of CAMIP, such as workshops to expand their knowledge, manage the governance of PEMIP, empower their role in the Plan and be multiplier agents of change within their territories.

We also support i) the institutional strengthening of CAMIP, ii) the implementation of PEMIP in coordination with the government and CAMIP, to carry out the implementation of PEMIP at the local and community level, iii) the promotion of the implementation of PEMIP and other basic policies such as the implementation of Law 37 and Law 301, the organic charters of different comarcas and collective lands, iv) expansion of other issues to other areas to be inclusive in social, education and health issues and security of their rights, v) strengthening alliances and governance of the PEMIP, creating operational manuals and creating a network that strengthens and can ensure the sustainability of the Plan.

We consider this Plan to be not only a pioneering but an integral initiative that supports all actions promoted for and by Indigenous Peoples, supporting PEMIP 2025 and CAMIP as safeguards for the future and for Mother Earth.

Virtual event: USAID & Indigenous Peoples: Co-creation Efforts and Lessons Learned

Sara Omi, Coordinator of the Economic Empowerment Plan for Indigenous Women of Panama, will speak about the FSC Indigenous Foundation and our Indigenous Peoples Alliance for Rights and Development (IPARD) Program

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To commemorate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. ET, USAID’s Inclusive Development Hub will host the virtual event, “USAID & Indigenous Peoples: Co-creation Efforts and Lessons Learned.” This event will showcase the impact of co-creation efforts that support Indigenous Peoples issues in Latin America.

You will hear from Agency partners and USAID staff working on the ground with Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala, Panama & Colombia. Speakers will include:

Aj’bee Jimenez, Senior Advisor for Indigenous Peoples Issues, USAID/Guatemala
Sara Omi, Coordinator of the Economic Empowerment Plan for Indigenous Women of Panama, FSC Indigenous Foundation
Karina Ballén, Senior Manager in Mental Health and Psychosocial Care, International Organization for Migration
Diana Aguas, Differential Approach Specialist, International Organization for Migration

USAID Deputy Administrator Paloma Adams-Allen and Senior Advisor on Indigenous Peoples Issues Stephanie Conduff will provide opening remarks.

REGISTER HERE

If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact reasonableaccommodations@usaid.gov.

For questions on this event, please contact idcommunications@usaid.gov

The General Council of the Comarca Naso Tjër Di of Panama validates the draft of its Organic Charter

After eight months of work, the Naso Comarca has created an Organic Charter that reflects its cultural values and the protection of Mother Earth.

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The cultural values of the Naso people of Panama are embodied in their Organic Charter. The Charter contains the methods that the Naso people use to preserve the cultural and biological biodiversity of their territory, methods to elect or dismiss their authorities and representatives, divide their lands by family and communities, and how they administer justice related to land and the development of the community economy.

The process to draft the Organic Charter of the Naso Tjër Di Comarca began when the Naso General Council approved the project to Strengthen the Indigenous Agenda of Panama (FAIP) in August 2022. Since then, three training workshops to draft and reach a consensus on the Organic Charter. The first workshop was held in October 2022 in the community of Sieyik, the capital of the comarca, a second workshop was held in the community of Drudi in February 2023, and a third in the community of Bonyik in May 2023.

In each of these workshops over 50 traditional authorities such as the Pjoshwega (traditional justice administrators) and Dboriaga (community representatives before the King) participated and explained to the technical commission of the comarca how the final document should be written.

*Second Training Workshop, collection and consensus of information to elaborate the Organic Charter of the Naso Tjër Di Comarca, Drudi community.*

METHODOLOGY

The elaboration of a Charter is an open, participatory, and extensive process where authorities and community members must express their experiences, opinions, and suggestions so that The Charter reflects a democratic representation of the principles and ideals of the people who create it.

For this purpose, the Naso King, Reynaldo Santana, summoned the technical commission of the Organic Charter, the Naso General Council, and representatives of the 16 communities of the comarca to the workshops to draft the Organic Charter. The representatives agreed upon the organization chart, the administrative and political body of the territory, and designated functions to each organizational group.

*The Naso palace, home of King Renaldo Santana, where his royal throne is located. Sieyik community.*

Although the Organic Charter had not been written until now, its procedures, methods, and structures have been in place for centuries through the way the Naso people live in harmony with their land.

ADMINISTRATION OF TRADITIONAL JUSTICE

The technician of the Organic Charter Commission, Adolfo Villagra, clarified that, although there should be a close relationship between local authorities, the No Daga (community police) must comply with the requests of the Pjoshwega, meaning the No Daga is subordinate to the Pjoshwega and they do not have the same powers to administer justice.

Currently, even though Panamanian law recognizes the right of Indigenous traditional authorities to apply justice, the Naso people still use Western justice to resolve community cases, which takes power away from the Pjoshwega and gives those responsibilities to the State.

*Technician Adolfo Villagra addresses the audience during the second workshop in the community of Drudi.*

CREATION OF COUNCILS FOR WOMEN, YOUTH AND ELDERS

The Organic Charter also opened new political spaces for women, youth, and the elderly, such as the Women’s Council, the Youth Council, and the Council of Elders. These institutions proposed by the community and the authorities will ensure the representation of these populations in the General Council, which is the comarca’s body for consultation, consensus, coordination, and administration.

Some of the women who supported the creation of the Women’s Council belong to the United Women’s Organization of Bonyik (OMUB), including Rosibel Quintero, entrepreneur of the Posada Media Luna, and teachers Yeraldin Villagra and Gerardina Hooker.

(From left to right) Leaders Rosibel Quintero, Yeraldin Villagra, Omayra Casamá, president of AMARIE, and Gerardina Hooker during the validation of the draft Organic Charter of the Naso Tjër Di Comarca in the community of Bonyik.

PROTECTION OF THE GODDESS TJËR

From the beginning, King Reynaldo Santana has always defended the conservation efforts of the Naso Tjër Di Comarca. The Organic Charter establishes various mechanisms and projects to protect the environment, such as recycling projects, reforestation, and the creation of nurseries, herbariums, and sanctuaries for different native species.

In addition, he says the Charter also creates a “double shield” of protection for the goddess Tjër, sovereign of the Naso territory who gives her name to the region, because the Naso people are the true guardians of nature.

*For the Naso people, the river is a goddess called Tjër, which also gives the name to the comarca.*

One mechanism that strengthens the Organic Charter is the right to consultation and free, prior and informed consent of the Naso people before projects that national or international institutions wish to execute within the comarca. This returns decision-making power back to the traditional authorities.

APPROVAL OF A DRAFT CHARTER

The approval of the draft Charter of the Comarca Naso Tjër Di by the General Council was celebrated in the community of Bonyik on May 2, 2023, in the presence of the King, the technical commission of the Charter, the Pjoshwega and Dboriaga and special guests such as the presidential advisor Andrés Wong and the advisor of the Vice-Ministry of Indigenous Affairs Emir Miranda.

*King Reynaldo Santana addresses the public at the closing of the act of validation of the draft of the Organic Charter.*

During the last eight months, the authorities, technical commission and residents of different communities worked on 180 articles of the Organic Charter.

According to the president of the General Council, Ignacio Bonilla, the effort to generate the Organic Charter has gone through several setbacks related to the economic capacity of the region to support visitors and supply their breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, in addition to convincing its population of the historical importance of the project.

*Ignacio Bonilla, president of the General Council of the Comarca Naso Tjër Di, gives instructions on how the methodology for the validation of the draft Organic Charter will be developed.*

Partners were also invited to the validation ceremony including the director of the FSC Indigenous Foundation, Francisco Souza, the coordinator of the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB), Levi Sucre, the president of the Mesoamerican Coordinating Committee of Women Territorial Leaders (CMLT), Sara Omi, and the president of the Association of Emberá Women Artisans (AMARIE), Omayra Casamá.

On the value of this process, Francisco Souza of the FSC Indigenous Foundation commented, “Recognizing governance is a recognition of the ancestry of the Naso people. Our commitment to share is to start with the Organic Charter as a first step, the second step is the development of Naso culture and self-determination.”

Francisco Souza, director of the FSC Indigenous Foundation addresses the General Council of the Comarca Naso Tjër Di, to his left are Levi Sucre, Coordinator of AMPB, Omayra Casamá, President of AMARIE, King Reynaldo Santana and second King Ardinteo Santana.

Omayra Casamá, President of AMARIE shared, “The Organic Charter is a guide, it is a method of legality, of security, of telling the government that we Indigenous Peoples are organized, we just had to write it down.”

*Omayra Casamá, President of AMARIE, addresses the General Council.*

ABOUT THE PROJECT

In addition to the Naso Tjër Di Comarca, FAIP covers three additional Indigenous territories and aims to strengthen their political structures by drafting and publication of their organic charters or internal regulations.

The Kuna Comarca of Madungandi drafted the Internal Regulations of the General Congress and in this process, spaces were created for women and youth to share their opinions on the decisions made by the General Congress, which is mostly composed of men.

The drafting of the Internal Regulations of the Tuira Region of the Emberá and Wounaan Collective Lands of Darién has demonstrated, among other things, that there is another Indigenous People in Panama, the Eyabida people who migrated from Colombia due to the armed conflict between guerrillas and drug trafficking. This process also proved that coordination between transboundary communities is possible and necessary for democratic territorial governance.

As for the Organic Charter of the National Congress of the Wounaan People, the only political structure that uses the term “nation” and therefore encompasses all Wounaan communities in the Panamanian territory and the only one led by a woman, Cacica Aulina Ismare Opua, has demonstrated the importance of women participating in these political processes.

FAIP is funded by USAID and FSC, implemented by FSC Indigenous Foundation and framed within the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance for Rights and Development (IPARD) program, executed in coordination with AMPB, CMLT and AMARIE.