About us
The foundation for development in justice and peace
FUNDAPAZ
The Foundation for Development in Justice and Peace – FUNDAPAZ – is a non-profit organization which has worked towards sustainable rural development together with indigenous and farming organizations in the north of Argentina since 1973.
MISSION
To promote fair and sustainable territorial human development in the north of Argentina, developing skills and strengthening the interaction between public, private, national and international stakeholders.
VISION
To become a strategic stakeholder with social legitimacy, recognized by its skills and results, and therefore to promote full access and the exercise of rights of indigenous and rural communities and their organizations in the sustainable management of their territories
Work areas
The foundation works in the Argentine Chaco region located in the provinces of Salta and Santiago del Estero and in the north of the province of Santa Fe.
SALTA
The work area is located in the northeast of the province and covers four regions: Bermejo-Ruta 81, Morillo – Los Blancos, Pilcomayo and Rivadavia Banda Sur.
The recipients of our action in this province are peasant and indigenous organizations. It involves 5,000 families, more than 30,000 people living in the aforementioned areas.
SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO
FUNDAPAZ’s work area is located in the center and north of this province and covers three large areas: Robles, Garza and Salado Norte. They all belong to the Semi-arid Chaco region. The recipients of our action are around 1,500 families; about 9,000 people.
SANTA FE
The work is carried out in the north of the province, in two areas: La Cuña Boscosa and the Bajo Submeridionales. La Cuña Boscosa is located in the north of the province, covers part of the Vera and General Obligado department; and belongs to the Sub-humid Chaco.
The Submeridional Lowlands is a wetland of more than 3 million hectares, with extensive grasslands and an aquatic environment.
In this area, our action is aimed at some 1,500 peasant families living in small rural communities that belong to the localities of the Vera department.
Jujuy
In this province we work accompanying the Assembly of the Guaraní People (APG) in the towns of Calilegua, Fraile Pintado, Vinalito, San Pedro, Yuto and Bananal, in what is known as the Jujeño Branch. Some of the axes of work in this area are the attention to youth problems, the socio-organizational and productive strengthening of families and indigenous organizations.
Strategic lines of work
Se inició una ruta de formación para jóvenes de Salta y Jujuy
Jóvenes de Santa Victoria Este se capacitan en apicultura
Puente 122
Se realiza en Paraguay el Segundo Encuentro Trinacional de Mesas de Acceso al Agua
Primer taller de la Escuela de Apicultura Campesina e Indígena
Experiencias que alientan la formación integral de los jóvenes del mundo rural
Testimonios
Rural women from our homes take charge of raising our children, education and care of the family. Also of poultry, pig and orchard production; but we also participate in our grassroots organization. Without the support, accompaniment and technical and sometimes economic support of FUNDAPAZ it would not have been possible to improve the institutional functioning of our organization.
“I am 26 years old and I’ve always wanted to stay in Chaco. That’s the reason why I trained to help my people to be real producers. I am an Agriculture and Livestock Management technician, and I live in El Quebracho, in the department of Rivadavia, in the north of Salta. We are about 10 families in a criollo spot inside an indigenous territory. We devote ourselves to raising animals and beekeeping, and women have a vegetable garden. Our main problem has always been the lack of water. Luckily, a big cistern has been built in our hamlet and we have water for human consumption; we only lack water for agricultural production.”
In the Cuña Boscosa (Forest Wedge) of Santa Fe, we are working with a group of 25 women of our organization on a project focused on the use of renewable energies aimed at improving life in the homes, by introducing eco-friendly ranges and solar room and water heaters to use natural resources more efficiently. Not only do we try to take care of the environment, but we also work on issues related to healthcare and food.
In our meetings we exchange ideas and bring back to the present some forgotten ancestral knowledge that can help us improve our quality of life.
All the work carried out by FUNDAPAZ in the rural and indigenous communities, and the value given to sharing knowledge and experiences with other countries and various stakeholders, have placed the organization in a prominent position in the Latin American region regarding the defense and the promotion of the right to land and water. FUNDAPAZ leads the Latin American Semiarid Platform, which stretches across most semiarid areas in the region, combining advocacy strategies and regional and national political dialog with local employment, spreading sustainable and resilient techniques for food production, access to water and management of the natural resources of the territory. In ILC LAC we value this great ability to get involved in such diverse and multilevel processes, as well as their commitment and professionalism in the way they develop their work in favor of rural communities.
“Our organization comprises 30 wichí communities of San Martín department in Salta, and we are part of the Encuentro de Organizaciones Campesinas e Indígenas del Norte Argentino (ENCONA - Conference of the Rural and Indigenous Organizations of the North of Argentina). We work together to continue strengthening the organizations, to share information about what we are living and to try to have an impact on public policies. This space was promoted by FUNDAPAZ, and it has been one of the pillars of our organization because they’ve always helped us. We've never had enough funds of our own to hold meetings or assemblies.”
International Semear/ IICA Program has the privilege of working together with FUNDAPAZ since 2018, building a strong alliance for the strengthening of rural leaderships. In the last two years, resources and efforts have been invested in the construction of strategies for the young focused on agroecology and peer learning, involving diverse Latin American stakeholders.
FUNDAPAZ contributes with its experience in networking, in the respect for rural voices and communities; it also provides its sensitivity and special care for native peoples, sharing their knowledge with their partners. Its excellent vision and management skills are focused on productivity and results.
For us, this is a fruitful alliance which provides mutual growth and strengthening perspectives.