Voices of Recovery

Aims to strengthen the voice and promote recognition of the needs and capacities of communities facing intersecting risks in Latin America, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hope is that this collaboration can help these and other communities to more effectively shape decision-making processes around sustainable recovery. 

The project, which commenced in 2022, seeks to:  

  • understand the long-term social, economic and cultural impacts of the pandemic, and the conditions that have influenced how communities were affected,  

  • recognise the recovery needs of communities, as well as the capacities and strategies they have developed to cope with, resist and recover from these impacts, and  

  • support communities to strengthen their collective voice in shaping and developing actions that contribute to a more equitable and sustainable recovery. 

We use approaches rooted in the humanities and social sciences, and view stakeholder engagement and capacity strengthening as part of the substance of our research activities. 

Who is part of the project? 

The project includes researchers, organizations and communities from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and the United Kingdom.

  • Brazil

    The National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN, Brazil) works with traditional and indigenous communities in the state of Pará. These include several communities that live in two Sustainable Use Reserves, the Tapajós-Arapiuns Reserva-Extractiva (RESEX) and Tapajós Bosque Nacional (FLONA) reserves, as well as Quilombola communities living adjacent to the cities of Cametá and Belém.

    In Brazil, the project is funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). 

  • Colombia

    Universidad de Caldas works in the municipalities of Marquetalia (Caldas), Florencia and La Montañita (Caquetá) with organisations and collectives of young people, rural women and survivors of the armed conflict.

    In Colombia, the project has been funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Minciencias - Colombia), the University of Caldas (Manizales-Colombia) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC - United Kingdom). 

  • Peru

    The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) works in the provinces of Satipo and Chanchamayo, in the central region of the Amazon with two indigenous organizations in two areas of the central jungle: the Asháninka Central of the Ene River (CARE), which brings together 18 native communities in the Ene River valley, and the Organization of Asháninka Indigenous Women of the Central Forest (OMIAASEC), the regional base of the National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru (ONAMIAP). Within these areas, we worked on the ground with three communities: Shankivironi, San Jerónimo and  Potsoteni.  

     In Peru, the project is funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). 

United Kingdom

Researchers from University of East Anglia and University of Edinburgh work with the teams above to support the collaborative research and help coordinate outputs across the countries.