BTC Rapid Response Fund (BRReF)
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Project HEARD is creating a rapid response fund via BTC donations to finance community-led protection strategies in the face of extractive industry violence.
For more information, please see below. |
ProjectHEARD BTC address bc1q7tmhup34dnv0qj7gegwzahag2gmaakj5u5c52r Incoming/outgoing funds: Bitquery Project HEARD google tracker: BRReF Tracker Questions: info@projectheard.org |
Supply chain violence, collective protection and bitcoin.
BHRRC: Increased legal protection needed as attacks against business & HRDs mount in 2020
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has been recognized as a logistical solution to facilitate international development and trade across numerous industries. Notably, international development use-cases often focus on improving supply chain management, land rights transparency and land titles.
In the last decade, Bitcoin (BTC) has specifically emerged as one of the most prevalent DLT use-cases due to its unique features (fungible, portable, decentralized, scarce, non-consumable, divisible, to name a few). However, BTC remains a technocentric solution which, on its own and like most technology, does not always reach the right hands due to a lack of access, availability or affordability. As DLT becomes increasingly institutionalized and adopted in global economic systems, communities directly impacted by global trade and extractive industries may experience disproportionate marginalization.
While global supply chains have been key in adopting DLT, they have also been incredibly violent spaces especially in the context of natural resource extraction, processing and trade. As extraction pushes deeper into remote and/or Indigenous territories, communities face increasing marginalization not only via direct violence but also economic or legal alienation by states or industry. In 2019, extractive industry supply chains caused 476 attacks against land and human rights defenders (HRDs). These attacks were spread across mining, agribusiness, construction, logging, fossil fuels and renewable energy sectors.
In the last decade, Bitcoin (BTC) has specifically emerged as one of the most prevalent DLT use-cases due to its unique features (fungible, portable, decentralized, scarce, non-consumable, divisible, to name a few). However, BTC remains a technocentric solution which, on its own and like most technology, does not always reach the right hands due to a lack of access, availability or affordability. As DLT becomes increasingly institutionalized and adopted in global economic systems, communities directly impacted by global trade and extractive industries may experience disproportionate marginalization.
While global supply chains have been key in adopting DLT, they have also been incredibly violent spaces especially in the context of natural resource extraction, processing and trade. As extraction pushes deeper into remote and/or Indigenous territories, communities face increasing marginalization not only via direct violence but also economic or legal alienation by states or industry. In 2019, extractive industry supply chains caused 476 attacks against land and human rights defenders (HRDs). These attacks were spread across mining, agribusiness, construction, logging, fossil fuels and renewable energy sectors.
As a response, community resistance is also on the rise. Project HEARD mobilizes resources that reinforce community-led protection strategies against extractive industry pressures and violence. These resources range widely, from digital monitoring applications to step-by-step guides for filing legal complaints. The strategies used by these resources focus on:
- Prevention: providing practical steps for ensuring long-term security by creating a landscape that prevents the potential for violence (e.g. anticipatory land mapping and titling, prior and informed consultation protocols)
- Organizing: facilitating methodical campaigning or organizing towards a broader political goal (e.g. campaigning methods and community-level advocacy).
- Monitoring: via technology, tools and risk assessments against perpetrators of violence (e.g. radio, community vigilance and patrol protocols or tools)
- Minimizing: via resettlement or direct negotiation to minimize existing physical or collective harm (e.g.
- Challenging: building capacity for communities challenge a decision or action (legal mechanism how-to's, accountability and evidence-building, or direct action physical resistance methods).
ZTI / Project HEARD: community-led protection strategy type
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ZTI / Project HEARD: community-led protection resource form
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Collective protection resources and tools take various shapes and forms, but are not always easy to implement due to lack of staff/community capacity, know-how, language barriers or internet access. The BRReF will facilitate access to funds for remote communities facing direct violence. In conditions where time is of the essence, this should allow better implementation of protection strategies and resources in the face of emergency situations such as judicial harassment, physical intimidation or displacement. Once activated, the BRReF will also focus on preventative protection mechanisms that focus on systemic change. These strategies contribute to the long-term realization of land rights, Indigenous peoples recognition, community well-being and collective autonomy.
