Amazon Dialogues begin on Friday

On August 4, 5 and 6, the Amazon peoples will have the opportunity to debate, in Belém, in the Brazilian state of Pará, the challenges and potential of the region that is home to the world’s largest tropical forest. The event coordinated by the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic – in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – will harbor five plenary sessions for 3,000 people each. The results of the debates of each plenary will serve as a basis for the creation of five reports that will be delivered to the presidents of the Amazon countries attending the Amazon Summit on August 8 and 9.

"The Amazon Dialogues are an extremely rich debate process. Social movements of all Amazon countries, plus Brazil, will be expressing their views on the problems, on the potentialities and on the possibilities of the Amazon Rainforest in this process of countries’ interaction at the Summit. So whatever is produced in the Dialogues will be presented to the heads of state at the Summit. I think that issues such as climate change; the Amazon’s indigenous peoples; the need for an inclusion project for the region; agroecology and the workers who survive from the rainforest; and the need to fight illegal mining are all topics that must be discussed – and that will certainly gain prominence in this process", explained Márcio Macêdo, Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency.

The Amazon Dialogues are an extremely rich debate process. Social movements of all Amazon countries, plus Brazil, will be expressing their views on the problems, on the potentialities and on the possibilities of the Amazon Rainforest in this process of countries’ interaction at the Summit. So whatever is produced in the Dialogues will be presented to the heads of state at the Summit
MÁRCIO MACÊDO
Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency

The Amazon Dialogues are expected to convene around 10,000 people during the three days of the event at the Hangar Convention and Trade Fair Center [Hangar Centro de Convenções e Feiras] in the capital of Pará. On August 4, from 1PM to 4PM, a transversal plenary will take place on the topic "Women in Pan-Amazon – Rights, Bodies and Territories for Socio-environmental and Climate Justice". From 4PM to 7PM, there will be a plenary-synthesis on the participation and protection of territories, activists, civil society and peoples from the forests and waters in the sustainable development of the Amazon and the eradication of slave labor in the territory. The opening ceremony will take place from 7PM onwards, with the participation of ministers, governors, mayors and parliamentarians.

Minister Márcio Macêdo emphasized the importance of society's participation in the process of contributing with solutions that support the strategic decisions that will be made by the government, and that can complement a successful project for the Amazon.

HEALTH — The Dialogues will continue on August 5 with a plenary-synthesis that addresses the topic “Health, sovereignty and food and nutritional security in the Amazon region: emergency actions and structuring policies," from 9AM to midday. In the early afternoon there will be the transversal plenary on youth between 1PM and 4PM. “How to think about the Amazon for the future based on science, technology, innovation, academic research and energy transition” is the topic of the debate of the third plenary-synthesis which will be held between 5PM and 8PM.

On the last day of the Dialogues, “Climate change, agroecology and the socio-bio economies of the Amazon: sustainable management and new production models for regional development” will be on the agenda of the fourth plenary-synthesis, from 9AM until midday. The transversal plenary of the day, from 1PM to 4PM, will deal with “Black Amazons and Environmental Racism, Traditional Peoples and Communities.” Closing the event, the fifth and final plenary-synthesis will discuss the inclusion of indigenous peoples. The plenary, between 5PM and 8PM, will end the entire Dialogues program.

From everything that will be discussed in the Dialogues, especially in the plenary-synthesis sessions, five reports will be produced and delivered to the presidents of the countries attending the Amazon Summit – and may guide the implementation of public policies aimed at the sustainable development of the entire region.

"We are certain that the Brazilian initiative of listening to the needs of the peoples of the rainforest is a historic milestone, and, from it, we will enter a new phase of development for the Amazon – a development that meets the desires of the people who inhabit the rainforest, whether on the river banks, in the villages, in the cities, in every corner of the region", concluded Minister Márcio Macêdo.