On March 22, 2023, the Federal Government published Decree No. 11.447/2023, establishing the Aquilomba Brasil Program and its Steering Committee, which will be coordinated by the Ministry of Racial Equality. The program aims to promote the rights of the Quilombola population (maroon communities) in order to guarantee their access to land, infrastructure and quality of life, productive inclusion and local development. This program was established to replace the Brasil Quilombola Program, created in 2007.
Among the principles and objectives of the Aquilomba Brasil Program, the decree aims to (i) guarantee the land regularization of Quilombola territories; (ii) encourage the participation of Quilombolas in actions under the National Policy on Climate Change and National Policy of Payments for Environmental Services; and (iii) guarantee the prior, free and informed consultation with projects that may impact the traditional lifestyle of the Quilombola population, in the context of environmental licensing proceedings.
Unlike the Brasil Quilombola Program, the Steering Committee of the new program will count on the participation of Palmares Cultural Foundation ("FCP") and the National Institute for Colonization and Land Reform ("INCRA"), the agencies responsible for the certification of Quilombola communities and the regularization of their traditional lands, respectively. According to the FCP database,1 2,859 Quilombola communities have been certified by the body, while only 355 Quilombola communities have been issued a title recognizing their traditional domains.2 3
The Aquilomba Brasil Program seeks to ensure the rights established in Article 68 of the Brazilian Constitution's Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act, in addition to strengthening the application of the International Labor Organization's Convention No. 169.
Footnotes
1 As of August 22, 2022.
2 According to the INCRA database, as of December 31, 2022.
3 In 2019, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics(IBGE) estimated the existence of 5,972 Quilombola areas in Brazil.
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