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Blog Archives

May 11, 2019

Petita Ayarza, first Guna woman elected to Panama's National Assembly

Benjamin Goodman
Here is an English summary of the Spanish article linked below: Petita Ayarza, the first indigenous Guna woman to be elected to Panama's National Assembly admitted that participating in politics was not easy as a woman, however she followed the will of the people. She began to be involved in politics many years ago, working in the local communities where she was a delegate of the Revolutionary Democratic Party as well as the head of the collective in the comarca (indigenous territory). She said that her deceased husband also helped her to ...
March 15, 2018

Indigenous Rights and Community Forests Management

Benjamin Goodman
Indigenous Rights and Community Forest Management The correlation between forest-dwelling communities and forest conservation is highest among communities who having gained legal recognition and control of their land through national and international struggles, which have been invigorated by the indigenous rights movement. Indigenous rights expert James Anaya has identified what he sees as the two most pressing concerns for indigenous peoples. Each of these has important implications for development projects among indigenous peoples, ...
December 17, 2014

Who's got your carbon?

Benjamin Goodman
Rolling Stone has made some blunders recently, but I think they got this one correct.  "The first days of the Lima summit — known as COP 20, for the twentieth session of the Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change — saw the publication of data that quantifies, for the first time, the exact size of the climate impact made by indigenous populations as front-line guardians of imperiled rainforests. The size of this impact, a kind of negative carbon footprint, is staggering." Morti is part of the Wargandi ...
December 16, 2014

Indigenous Rights Risk Report (IRR) May Initiate Market-based Incentives for Respecting Indigenous Rights.

Benjamin Goodman
"“If you have bad credit you pay a higher interest rate,” Adamson said. “This is how the market works. So the idea behind the Risk Report is to quantify the risk companies encounter when they violate free prior informed consent and tie it to their cost of capital. That way a company that consistently violates Indigenous Rights will be rated riskier than one that upholds our rights, and therefore it will have to pay higher financing costs.”" VRI values the indigenous right of free prior and informed consent and seeks to assist indigenous ...
October 21, 2014

Capacity Building Workshop

Benjamin Goodman
Our partner and volunteer Project Manager, Wilfredo Lopez, participated in a capacity building workshop last week through the UN in Panama City. He learned the basics for how to put together an Annual Plan of Operation. He, along with Teobaldo Martinez, is using this new skill and others he possesses to develop the Operating Plan for our newest project. Wilfredo is studying law part time on the weekends so that he can work for the Village of Morti during the week in order to make ends meet.  We really appreciate all of his hard work!  Here ...
September 29, 2014

New Fundraising Campaign

Benjamin Goodman
September 25, 2014

The 501(c)(3) has been filed!

Benjamin Goodman
VRI is excited to announce that it has submitted its application for IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit status! Once VRI is approved, all donations will be tax-deductible retroactively to the date of incorporation which was exactly one year ago. Keep an eye out for an upcoming fundraising effort as we look to cover the cost of the 501(c)(3) application as well as raise funds for a new project that is in the works. More information to come soon!
September 24, 2012

River Transportation Project

Benjamin Goodman
Hello VRI supporters. Thank you all for your interest and support, and especially to the many of you who have contributed so far to the micro-loan project. By July 4th, we were able to raise $1290 which was then matched with an additional $1290, for a total of $2580! Since then, we received an additional donation of $20, bringing our total so far to $2600. Thanks! We need to raise another $900 dollars to reach our goal of $3500 to fund our first project. In communication with Teobaldo, we have decided that we should wait until the beginning ...
February 21, 2012

Welcome

Dear Reader, On this site, you'll find four places where you can read more about the work and purpose of VRI. The Articles will share our research as well as academic pieces relevant to VRI. The Newsfeed will be updated regularly with information about what VRI is doing right now. "Our Stories" will be more narrative in form, with anecdotes written to give a more personalized look at how the Kuna community of Morti is impacted by the work of VRI. Finally, this blog will be a place to read the thoughts of VRI's founder, Benjamin Goodman. A ...

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