Cultural Survival is excited to announce the addition of Alicia Moncada (Wayúu) as our new Director of Advocacy and Communications. With 13 years of experience transforming narratives and public policies to advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Alicia brings extensive expertise in advocacy strategies, research, and human rights communication at the international level.
Alicia was born in Venezuela, sought refuge in Mexico, and currently resides in England. She is a member of the Indigenous organizations Nación Wayúu (Colombia) and Wainjirawa UAIN (Venezuela); in the latter, she was part of the Indigenous radio program Radio Guarura, broadcast by the independent station Humano Derecho Radio Estación between 2017 and 2018. This work consolidated her commitment to community communication in contexts of civic space restrictions and criminalization of human rights defense.
She holds a law degree from the Universidad Autónoma Popular del Estado de Puebla in Mexico, as a recipient of the Habesha-Diálogo Intercultural Mexicano (DIME) scholarship for refugees, a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Women's Rights from Universidad Central de Venezuela, and specialized training in International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law from Université Catholique de Louvain.
Alicia worked as a researcher in various areas of the Amazon basin, specializing in gender and climate justice. She documented human rights violations against Indigenous Peoples in extractive contexts in the Orinoco Mining Arc and the Venezuela-Brazil border, violence against Indigenous women in illegal mining areas, and the impact of non-state armed actors on Indigenous territorial rights on the Colombian-Venezuelan border. Her findings have been published in various books and academic journals throughout Latin America. She was also a professor at Universidad Central de Venezuela and a collaborator with the Center for Women's Studies at the same institution.
Additionally, Alicia served as Research and Media Coordinator at the Foundation for Justice and the Rule of Law (FJEDD), where she led research on the impact of migration policies on human rights. Her reports examined, under international law standards, the "Remain in Mexico" program (Migrant Protection Protocols-MPP), the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants and refugees, and the militarization of Mexican migration policy. She coordinated the human rights and journalism research project "Bajo la Bota" (Under the Boot), developed by FJEDD together with Periodistas de a Pie.
At Amnesty International, she began as a researcher in Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights for the Venezuelan section, documenting the impact of the complex humanitarian emergency and serious human rights violations against Indigenous Peoples. She later became the first Climate Justice Researcher and Americas Program Officer, leading the organization's first climate justice strategy for the Americas. From this role, she designed research and advocacy strategies that amplified the voices of rural, Amazonian, and Indigenous communities affected by oil extraction and the consequences of global warming. She coordinated climate reparations and loss and damage processes with human rights organizations and transnational coalitions. She has coordinated and drafted amicus curiae briefs submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Latin American constitutional courts, developing legal narratives that apply international human rights frameworks to climate justice.
Aimee Roberson, Cultural Survival Executive Director, states, “We are absolutely thrilled that Alicia is joining the Cultural Survival team. Her energy, empathy, and experience in defending human rights and uplifting Indigenous voices and issues will strengthen our work in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. As our new Director of Advocacy and Communications, Alicia will help us to be more strategic and impactful in supporting the self-determination and political resilience of Indigenous Peoples.”
Alicia says, “It is an honor to join Cultural Survival at a decisive moment for our rights as Indigenous Peoples, climate justice, and nature. The victories we have achieved in international spaces are under constant threat, and we must defend them with the same determination with which we seek new victories for the rights of nature and our territories. I am a firm believer in the power of strategic communication and advocacy to transform our voices into tangible changes, into concrete justice. My commitment is to strengthen strategies that position Indigenous leadership at the tables where our destinies and the future of all beings who inhabit this planet are decided."
Please help us welcome Alicia to the team!
