Lima Declaration. Permanent Forum for Decolonization

In Lima, on December 5, 2024, social and workers' organizations, indigenous, Afro-descendant, peasant, environmental and women's movements, several continental organizations, academia, and international NGOs from Latin America from 22 countries, committed to the decolonization of cooperation,

In view of:

A context of closing spaces for activism, and the advance of deeply conservative far-right forces in our region and the world, requires strong unity and organization on the part of the peoples, movements and organizations of progressive civil society;

An environment with acute social injustice, class exclusion, poverty, racism, inequalities and gender violence, wars and criminal economies, environmental collapse, and discourses and practices that foster hatred, division and autocracy;

Whereas:

Social organizations and movements have advocated for decades for solidarity-based cooperation that supports their agendas, but progress has been insufficient and slow, and colonial approaches and practices still prevail; a significant part of cooperation has imposed agendas, fragmented organizations, and supported short-term projects instead of processes of deep transformation;

Decolonial cooperation, rooted in principles of reciprocity, is urgently needed to address critical issues in the context of a divided, polarized, and unjust world;

We agreed:

To establish a mechanism for denouncing colonial practices in cooperation, as well as to celebrate progress consistent with a decolonial, feminist, and anti-racist agenda. The Forum is an open, ongoing process that seeks to include all those who fight for fair, inclusive, and participatory cooperation.

Establish the Permanent Forum for the Decolonization of Cooperation, with the aim of organizing ourselves to accelerate and achieve changes in international cooperation, based on principles of decoloniality, feminism, anti-racism, participation and inclusion.

To jointly advocate for profound changes in cooperation, to recognize and redefine, refound and co-create from decoloniality, feminism, anti-racism, and human, collective and nature rights.

We call upon donors, international NGOs, philanthropists, and other allies to join this crucial and urgent process in the face of the challenges we collectively face, both in the Global South and the Global North. We propose to unite in a great forum for collective reflection.

We commit to working on this agenda with enthusiasm and conviction, drawing inspiration from cultural and artistic diversity, and the immense wealth of progressive and decolonial ideas generated in Latin America, uniting with anti-racist, environmental, peasant and feminist movements from other regions of the Global South, with all our musical strength and our dances.

Establish a Council made up of different organizations to guide the work of a Secretariat facilitated in the first stage by FENMUCARINAP and ACAPACÁ.

Organize the Forum based on working groups composed of representatives from different organizations and movements, by subregions (Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, Andean countries, and Southern Cone) and critical issues (financing models, advocacy and collective action agenda, equitable partnerships and re-imagining relationships between actors, among other issues).