On Wednesday August 19, 2020, the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and Equitable Origin (EO), held their second webinar entitled «Indigenous Organizations as emerging actors in the battle against COVID-19 in the Ecuadorian Amazon. » This seminar had the participation of Tuntiak Katan, Vice Coordinator of COICA; Manuel Pallares, President of Fundación Raíz; Andrés Tapia, Communication Director of CONFENIAE and Elvia Dahua, Director of Women and Health of CONFENIAE. The moderation of this important activity was held by Juan Carlos Jintach, COICA’s Climate Change, Biodiversity and International Policies specialist. Juan Carlos highlighted the importance of the issue as it coincides with the celebration of 40 years of organizational life of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), in the promotion, defense and execution of the rights of indigenous peoples.
Tuntiak Katan, Vice Coordinator of COICA, opened the round of speakers, where he stressed the inaction of the Ecuadorian Government in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in indigenous communities. This caused indigenous organizations to decide to take action and mobilize on the front lines to fight COVID-19. Thanks to the management and coordination of indigenous organizations such as COICA, CONFENIAE and partner organizations such as Fundación Raíz, it was possible to organize food, medicines and medical supplies, which they delivered to remote communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Tuntiak stressed that due to the difficult reality that indigenous communities have faced due to COVID-19, COICA and CONFENIAE are promoting the construction of a medical center for medical research purposes, focusing on ancestral and traditional medicine to treat and fight COVID-19 and other diseases. To conclude, he mentioned that indigenous organizations have shown greater effectiveness by being «less bureaucratic» in helping communities, and called on public and private institutions to coordinate with indigenous organizations to be more efficient.
This was followed by the participation of Manuel Pallares, President of the Fundación Raíz, who pointed out the importance of self-determination on the part of indigenous organizations and their achievements. He emphasized the capacity of indigenous organizations such as CONFENIAE, to address their own problems, to coordinate with traditionally antagonistic government sectors, and to be resilient in the face of emergencies. He mentioned that this national and international health emergency demonstrated that indigenous communities and organizations play an important role in combating the virus. To conclude, Manuel suggested continuing to support indigenous organizations.
Andrés Tapia, CONFENIAE Communications Director, stated that the CONFENIAE Governing Council took the right decision to understand and face the impact of the pandemic on indigenous communities. This allowed the immediate implementation of organizational and coordination actions and articulation of its leaders to respond to this emergency. He stressed the importance of having strategic partners to help raise funds, respecting the structure and the way indigenous organizations work. He underlined the solidarity and coordination between the indigenous organizations, COICA-Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE)-CONFENIAE, to attend to medical and food needs. Finally, Andrés pointed out that in times of crisis, technology has become an essential tool for timely communication and response to emergency situations, so it is important to promote actions that improve the connectivity of indigenous communities, in light of the new way of seeing the world as «global-digitalized».
Finally, Elvia Dahua, CONFENIAE’s Head of Women and Health, spoke about the important role that indigenous women have assumed during this pandemic and the value of ancestral medicine. She recounted her experience after being infected with the virus, pointing out how dangerous this silent disease is. Elvia indicated that this disease has made it possible to reevaluate ancestral knowledge and medicine. Indigenous women, in an organized way, are beginning a process of taking advantage of this knowledge and helping promote their families’ economies from this perspective.
The webinar, «Indigenous Organizations as Emerging actors in the Battle Against COVID-19 in the Ecuadorian Amazon» was a space for frank, personal and emotional dialogue, where the panelists highlighted the importance of forging genuine partnerships, unity, and self-determination by indigenous organizations, the use of traditional knowledge and the use of technology to combat COVID-19 and other pandemics that affect Amazonian territories today and in the future.