Together with partners, the Samdhana Institute recently organised the Southeast Asia Women Environmental Human Rights Defenders (WEHRDs) Summit 2023. Held from 20-26 May 2023 in Pajinian Village in the West Adonara region of East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the Summit provided a platform for exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and gathering information, while also fostering solidarity among women and young leaders.

For the 30 mostly Menuvu memeritan (women) participants from 10 communities belonging to CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title) 202 and CADT 206 in Southern Bukidnon, it was their first time to join a training. They shared mixed feelings of joy, excitement, and anxiety for what they considered “talagsaun” or a rare opportunity.

Many Lumad or Indigenous communities have adopted the “agribusiness mentality,” that is, producing crops for the market and compromising food security, according to Erwin Rayos of Agroeco Philippines and Samdhana Institute’s technical consultant on agroecology.

In the indigenous communities that Samdhana is partnering with, most of the farmers are mainly producing hybrid corn varieties and cash crops, although there are still root crops and vegetables for domestic consumption.

From 30 June to 4 July 2023, Samdhana and AnimHa Menoken Team brought a series of Menoken events to South Papua, as part of a campaign called Noken, from Papua for the Archipelago. Through this movement, our aim is to connect Indigenous Peoples in the Merauke region with their counterparts elsewhere in Indonesia.

From production to processing, Indigenous women play a significant role in providing food for their families on a daily basis. However, when climate change impacts affect marine resources and disrupt agriculture, they are particularly susceptible.

From 23–31 May 2023, Samdhana set off on a Menoken journey in collaboration with RSBI Kupang and Juventude Inovativo. Travelling from Kupang in Indonesia to Timor Loro Sae in Timor-Leste, this event aimed to connect youth groups from communities in both nations, by sharing knowledge and finding common ground.

In November 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdowns, the Samdhana Institute set off on an ambitious mission to reconnect with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) who had been left isolated by the global pandemic.

Working Towards Climate Change Mitigation and Nature's Protection

Monday, August 21, 2023, in Gobleg Village, Bali, Indonesia was the opening day of the third Jamboree Nusantara and the second Southeast Asia Region Summit for Young Leaders.

From 21-24 February 2023, the International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) Global Conference was held in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Shifting Power: Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Leadership and Self-determination’.

From 20-22 March 2023, a total of 10 Samdhana staff joined an internal staff skills workshop on communications technology in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The hands-on training session aimed to build their knowledge and develop their skills in data management, data presentation and data sharing, while also helping them to maintain better data security standards.