Indigenous-Led Security Funds (ILSF) - Asia

Indigenous-Led Security Funds (ILSF) - Asia is sponsored by Land is Life. Land is Life's Indigenous-led Security Funds are active across Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Indigenous-led Security Funds - Land Is Life Indigenous-led Security Funds (ILSF) Land is Life’s Indigenous-led Security Funds are active across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Each fund is coordinated and led by Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Defenders in that region.

Our program provides the tools and resources they need to be able to promote and protect their rights safely, and is able to provide rapid response funds in emergency situations in a matter of hours. We monitor countries’ compliance with international human rights agreements, and campaign to hold accountable those who are responsible when Indigenous Peoples’ rights are violated.

Supporting legal fees to defend Indigenous Peoples’ defenders against criminalization, and to file legal complaints and request protection measures for individuals, communities and organizations that are under threat.

Medical, psychological and spiritual assistance: Funding for medical, psychological and spiritual assistance/protection from Western doctors as well as traditional healers for Indigenous Peoples’ right defenders who have been harmed or are being threatened as a result of their human rights activities. Immediate transfer of Indigenous Peoples’ rights defenders to safe havens, taking into account their request and risk.

Provide assistance to the families of Indigenous Peoples’ right defenders who are missing, have been killed or are in hiding. Funds are also used to support communities that have been forcibly evicted from their territories.

Collaborative Development and Implementation of Security Strategies: Develop and implement, in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples’ communities and organizations, strategies to ensure their ability to safely carry out the work of promoting and defending their human rights.

Engage national governments, regional human rights bodies and United Nations human rights bodies and Special Procedures on specific cases, as well as broader issues concerning Indigenous Peoples’ rights defenders. Land is Life has established four Indigenous-Led Security Funds In 2023, we supported Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Defenders in the Philippines, Myanmar, North East India, Nepal & West Papua.

In 2023, in partnership with the Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC), we supported more than 100 Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Defenders across the Colombian Amazon, and provided critical assistance to communities that are under threat or had been violently evicted from their territories.

In 2023 we supported Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi and Zimbabwe, and provided critical support for communities that have been violently displaced from their territories.

In 2023 we supported Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Defenders across Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala, as well as critical support for communities under threat.

Our Indigenous-led Security Funds contribute to progress in the following areas: Protecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights defenders, their families, organizations and communities and improving their capacity to take defensive actions that ensure their rights, territories, and collective cultural heritage. Establishing dialogues with states, and enhanced coordination amongst Indigenous Peoples on territorial security and collective rights.

Raising public awareness about the security concerns of Indigenous Peoples’ rights defenders through engagement with collective and wide-reaching regional networks.

Related stories from Indigenous Peoples’ rights defender Indigenous Peoples Rights A New Strategic Vision Rooted in Indigenous Leadership By Luisa Castañeda-Quintana, Executive Director, Land is Life Across forests, deserts, savannas, rivers, and international negotiation rooms, I have witnessed the same truth repeated in different forms: Indigenous Peoples are Water, Rights, and Indigenous Peoples: What’s at Stake in 2026 By Tania Eulalia Martínez-Cruz, Independent Researcher Ëyuujk World Water Day 2026, under the theme “Water and Gender,” and 2026 World Water Report, titled Water for All: Rights and Equal In the Amazon, Security Begins with the Territory By Killa Becerra, Land is Life Coordinator of the Amazon Basin “In the Amazon, defending the territory is defending life itself; we feel deep pain for every hectare lost, every El almacenamiento o acceso técnico es necesario para la finalidad legítima de almacenar preferencias no solicitadas por el abonado o usuario.

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