Indigenous-led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency: insights from Guatemala
This practice paper reflects on an ongoing Participatory Action Research project that combines community-engaged methods, national data analysis and advocacy to support community-based emergency response to extreme weather events in 16 Indigenous communities in Alta Verapaz province, Guatemala. Our...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2024-11-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/11/e015519.full |
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| author | Walter Flores Jeannie Samuel Benilda Batzin Rosaura Medina Evaristo Caal Karin Slowing Esteban Sabbatasso |
| author_facet | Walter Flores Jeannie Samuel Benilda Batzin Rosaura Medina Evaristo Caal Karin Slowing Esteban Sabbatasso |
| author_sort | Walter Flores |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This practice paper reflects on an ongoing Participatory Action Research project that combines community-engaged methods, national data analysis and advocacy to support community-based emergency response to extreme weather events in 16 Indigenous communities in Alta Verapaz province, Guatemala. Our work points to a worrying predicament experienced in climate-affected areas, where some populations face a dangerous confluence of climate vulnerability, social exclusion and state abandonment that imperils human health. Indigenous communities in Alta Verapaz are often particularly vulnerable to health impacts from climate-driven extreme weather events, a reality compounded by the historical and contemporary ways the state marginalises them. We share work from our project activities to shed light on these interconnected problems and how Indigenous communities in Alta Verapaz, especially Maya Q’eqchi’ communities, are using creative strategies to confront them. Technical solutions are important but insufficient responses. Community-led activism to push for state support to address extreme weather events, as has been practised in struggles for health rights, can provide vital tools for addressing the increasing challenges these populations face in the context of the climate crisis. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-07c2800ba6004db7b1866eb6db649e86 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-07c2800ba6004db7b1866eb6db649e862025-08-20T01:56:39ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082024-11-0191110.1136/bmjgh-2024-015519Indigenous-led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency: insights from GuatemalaWalter Flores0Jeannie Samuel1Benilda Batzin2Rosaura Medina3Evaristo Caal4Karin Slowing5Esteban Sabbatasso6Centro de Estudios para la Equidad y Gobernanza en los Sistemas de Salud (CEGSS), Guatemala City, GuatemalaHealth & Society, York University, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaCentro de Estudios para la Equidad y Gobernanza en los Sistemas de Salud (CEGSS), Guatemala City, GuatemalaCentro de Estudios para la Equidad y Gobernanza en los Sistemas de Salud (CEGSS), Guatemala City, GuatemalaCentro de Estudios para la Equidad y Gobernanza en los Sistemas de Salud (CEGSS), Guatemala City, GuatemalaLaboratorio de Datos GT, Guatemala City, GuatemalaPolitics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaThis practice paper reflects on an ongoing Participatory Action Research project that combines community-engaged methods, national data analysis and advocacy to support community-based emergency response to extreme weather events in 16 Indigenous communities in Alta Verapaz province, Guatemala. Our work points to a worrying predicament experienced in climate-affected areas, where some populations face a dangerous confluence of climate vulnerability, social exclusion and state abandonment that imperils human health. Indigenous communities in Alta Verapaz are often particularly vulnerable to health impacts from climate-driven extreme weather events, a reality compounded by the historical and contemporary ways the state marginalises them. We share work from our project activities to shed light on these interconnected problems and how Indigenous communities in Alta Verapaz, especially Maya Q’eqchi’ communities, are using creative strategies to confront them. Technical solutions are important but insufficient responses. Community-led activism to push for state support to address extreme weather events, as has been practised in struggles for health rights, can provide vital tools for addressing the increasing challenges these populations face in the context of the climate crisis.https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/11/e015519.full |
| spellingShingle | Walter Flores Jeannie Samuel Benilda Batzin Rosaura Medina Evaristo Caal Karin Slowing Esteban Sabbatasso Indigenous-led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency: insights from Guatemala BMJ Global Health |
| title | Indigenous-led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency: insights from Guatemala |
| title_full | Indigenous-led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency: insights from Guatemala |
| title_fullStr | Indigenous-led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency: insights from Guatemala |
| title_full_unstemmed | Indigenous-led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency: insights from Guatemala |
| title_short | Indigenous-led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency: insights from Guatemala |
| title_sort | indigenous led struggles for health justice in the context of the climate emergency insights from guatemala |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/11/e015519.full |
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