Rural areas, forests and cities: youths from the Amazon rainforest organize in a network to demand public policies

Brasil de Fato

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, in Portuguese), northern Brazil is the youngest region of the country, with 25.2% of its population under the age of 14, followed by northeast Brazil, with 21.1%. 

The youth of the Amazon territories share common challenges, such as low levels of formal education, social inequality, high infant mortality rates and lack of sanitation. Working as a network, these groups have come together to propose alternatives and public policies to boost their strength and role.

“We also want a robust and rich country that sees its youth population as a way to build capacity and approaches to decarbonize Brazil. But for this to happen, we need to have bodies at state and municipal levels to build public policies for young people and, above all, to have a budget, because there’s no use in a proposal in the public policy portfolio if it’s not in the budget portfolio,” explains Karla Giovanna Braga, a representative of the Amazon Youth Cooperation for Sustainable Development (Cojovem, in Portuguese).

Youth organizations put social issues at the sptlight to preserve the Amazon forest and its peoples. / Coutesy of Cojovem

In the state of Pará, Hélder Barbalho’s government has only one department for youth within the Secretariat for Racial Equality and Human Rights. The budget for 2024 is BRL 20,000 (US$ 3,569) to assist over 2 million citizens all over Pará, the equivalent of less than a penny per person.

“This makes it difficult, for example, for young people to have credit and income mechanisms to attend events, have transportation, because often young people don’t have the money to pay for trips to attend actions, to intervene politically. That’s very worrying to see that each young person is worth less than a penny,” adds Karla.

COP das Baixadas discusses cities, media, climate and society / Photo: Andre Butter/Negritar

COP30 will be the first climate summit in an Amazonian city – Belém, capital of the state of Pará – in 2025. Young people have been organizing activities in their territories and towns. One example is COP das Baixadas, a movement that develops climate education, cultural, leisure and sports activities in impoverished communities.

“Our coalition has been working to ensure that the voice of impoverished communities is heard and considered in decision-making processes, since these voices are marginalized by the central political powers. We also want to influence public policies, so they are built according to the reality of young populations from these locations,” explains Waleska Queiroz, from COP das Baixadas.

A collective in the state of Amapá is led by young Blacks / Courtesy of Coletivo Utopias Negras

According to the Atlas da Juventude (Youth Atlas, in a rough translation), Amapá is the Brazilian state with the highest percentage of young people. In this context, the Coletivo Utopia Negra Amapaense, made up mostly of young Blacks, works as a channel for the effective participation of communities in spaces with decision-makers.

“As an organization of Black youth in Amapá, we are taking collaborative approaches with different organizations in the Amazon, highlighting the importance of a space for articulation, alignment and training. Regarding the COP, we want grassroots organizations to be in the spotlight at this event, which will take place in our home. That’s why we’re working together so that the voices from our territories are heard and empowered, as well as respected,” says Irlan Paixão, from the Coletivo Utopia Negra Amapaense.