Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity (IPAS) Fund

From January 21-23, 2025, the IPAS Fund held a board meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to review the work on 2024, outline strategies and budget planning for 2025. The discussions focused on setting clear goals, initiatives, and action plans that align with the IPAS Fund’s mission. Emphasis was placed on strengthening institutional capacities, providing direct access to funding, and deepening cooperation among Indigenous Peoples organizations. The board members also discussed ways to overcome challenges and ensure efficient fund disbursement to support the needs of Indigenous Peoples, especially at the grassroot level. Prior to the 2-day meeting, a community visit to Karen community at the Muang Ang village. The visit provided insights into the impact of sustainable agriculture initiatives and reinforced the importance of supporting community-led projects. IPAS Fund is excited to move forward in 2025 with new energy and hope, expanding our outreach to 8 more countries in Asia. We will continue to support Indigenous Peoples organizations and communities to fully and sustainably govern traditional lands and resources with enhanced capacities, skills, and knowledge, achieving rights, well-being, gender equality and look forward to continuing our partnership in solidarity for Indigenous Peoples across Asia.

Read Shree's story ?? Earlier this month, our team was in Alter do Chao, Brazil, facilitating a dialogue and learning exchange with Indigenous and Traditional Community organizations from around the world. Building strong and robust institutions, funding modalities, cross-movement solidarity, and leadership practices is vital as these groups protect their rights and work towards intersectional goals such as justice for women and gender-diverse peoples. Shree Kumar Maharjan, Ph. D.?is the Program Director at the Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity (IPAS) Fund . His story of money shows us how we can work with money resourcefully when it's rooted in healthy relationships. "Growing up as an Indigenous person, we had no money or less value given to money as such, and decisions about food and other matters were made together, as a community collectively. When money entered Indigenous communities it made us focus on our own needs and interests, eroding our collective resilience. With IPAS (the Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity Fund), we are re-building this resilience by ensuring collective decision-making on how funds are spent so that rather than creating more division and inequality, money brings us the value of being together around the shared needs and priorities." When it comes to discussions about how to finance human rights work, our personal and historical relationship to money is one of the most invisible perspectives we bring into the room. Unpacking this -- individually and collectively -- can shift our mindsets and open up?many creative possibilities. That's why we often start our Financial Innovation and Resilience (FIRE) capacity-strengthening sessions with a storytelling exercise about this. What's your first memory of money? -with the Ford Foundation and Ellen Sprenger and Márcia Keiko Kodama #IndigenousAndTraditionalCommunities #ipasfund #indigenouspeoplesasia #FordFoundation #FIRE #FinancialResilience #FinancialHealth #FinancialInnovation #Fundraising #Philanthropy #ShiftThePower #DecolonizeAid #DecolonizePhilanthropy #unrestrictedfunding #trustbasedphilanthropy #capacitydevelopment #springstrategies #FundraisingTips #IndigenousRightsNow #FeministFunding ?

Earlier this month, our secretariat team attended a dialogue and learning exchange in Alter do Chao, Brazil, with IP and LC-led funds facilitated by Spring Strategies. This dialogue aimed to strengthen a global community of Indigenous Peoples and Local Community (IP&LC)-led funds and increase their impact through exchange, cross-learning, mutual support, and strategizing. In this beautiful place, building strong and robust institutions, funding modalities, cross-movement solidarity, and leadership practices is vital as these groups protect their rights and work towards intersectional goals such as justice for women and gender-diverse peoples.

Donors are closer to delivering the $1.7 billion promised to support Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in their roles as forest guardians, but we must continue working with urgency to ensure these resources reach frontline organizations directly. #COP29 https://lnkd.in/dq5uWyaA

Environmental defenders around the world are increasingly under threat. In 2023 alone, 196 were killed for taking a stand to protect nature, their homes, and their communities. At #COP16Colombia, Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (UN Biodiversity) , and Sonia Guajajara Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, joined Jenifer Lasimbang of the Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity (IPAS) Fund, 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Nonhle Mbuthuma, and Miguel Guimaraes of AIDESEP to remind us that nature thrives in places where Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendents and local communities can live free from violence and have strong rights over their ancestral territories. At the Ford Foundation, we’re collaborating with governments and NGOs to help nations uphold their commitments to human rights and dignity, knowing that environmental defenders are essential partners in addressing the challenges that have been laid down by this COP. #PeaceWithNature

“For raising Indigenous voices in the face of the global ecological breakdown and her leadership in defending people, lands and culture.” ??A huge congratulations to our exceptional board member, Joan Carling, for being named a 2024 Right Livelihood Award Laureate!?? For over 30 years, Joan has been a dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights. Originally from the Cordillera region of the Philippines, she has worked across grassroots and global platforms, tackling critical issues such as human rights, sustainable development, and climate action. As former Secretary General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Joan has been instrumental in advancing Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), amplifying Indigenous voices worldwide. Her dedication continues to support Indigenous communities in their fight for justice and self-determination. We are proud Joan joins three other Laureates—Forensic Architecture research agency, Anabela Lemos (Justi?a Ambiental), and Issa Amro (Youth Against Settlements), — in the Right Livelihood network of over 190 laureates from 77 countries. Her recognition is a testament to her unwavering commitment to Indigenous rights. We are truly honored to have her as part of our board, and we celebrate this well-deserved recognition of her remarkable work! The Indigenous Peoples Rights International Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity (IPAS) Fund

We are so excited to share the news that Joan Carling, Trustee of The Christensen Fund, is one of the 2024 Right Livelihood Laureates. "Indigenous Peoples face constant struggle: we’re evicted from our lands for both extractive projects and the green transition, yet our social development is ignored in the context of so-called sustainable development. All of us need to think about how we use our natural resources sustainably for the benefit of everyone and not the few." - Joan Carling, 2024 Laureate We are thrilled that Joan's profound work has been recognized by Right Livelihood. This honor serves to acknowledge the importance of the work she does in service of the self-determination, inherent rights, and dignity of Indigenous Peoples. Read more about Joan, her work, and her fellow laureates in the link below. https://lnkd.in/gnn5swYB The Indigenous Peoples Rights International Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility #JoanCarling #IndigenousRights #IndigenousPeoples #RightLivelihoodlaureate

The Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity (IPAS) Fund has been established by representatives of Indigenous Peoples from 13 countries in Asia, aiming to empower and support Indigenous Peoples across the region. IPAS fund is designed to provide access to external resources, helping to overcome challenges such as language barriers, government restrictions, and capacity issues. #ipasfund #ipasia