Organizers

Decodifica Institute

Mandi

Background

Decodifica Institute is dedicated to producing, communicating, and advocating for data-driven public policies that address the realities and needs of favelas and urban peripheries. Its work leverages data to empower communities, protect rights, and promote racial justice, centering climate and environmental justice as key priorities. Youth leadership guides strategies and partnerships. In 2024, with support from Hivos, Instituto Decodifica launched the Manas initiative in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro.

Mandí is a women-led civil society organization working on the agendas of Basic Sanitation and Climate Adaptation. We aim to improve sanitation indicators in the largest municipalities of the Legal Amazon, striving for social justice and cities better adapted to the effects of climate change. We pursue this through our main areas of action: educational experiences, social mobilization, advocacy, and the production of local knowledge. In 2024, with support from Hivos, Mandí launched the Manas initiative in Belém and the Metropolitan Region.

The Manas Network, by Instituto Decodifica (Rio de Janeiro) and Mandí (Belém), unites over 60 young women (16–24) from metropolitan peripheries in Rio de Janeiro and Pará. Through territorial research and active political advocacy, Manas amplifies the leadership of marginalized young women in climate action. By transforming local experiences into actionable public policy, Manas ensures these voices are at the center of climate debates at all levels. Supported by Hivos, the initiative’s key message is clear: intersectional leadership of young women from marginalized and disproportionately affected territories is vital for just climate solutions.

Objectives

• We aim to inspire and empower young women leaders from disproportionately affected territories to take concrete climate action, including advocacy and community organizing.

• We seek to increase international recognition of the impact of citizen-generated data and intersectional, women-led activism on climate policy.

• We strive to contribute to inclusive public policies grounded in the lived realities and research of youth from peripheral and Amazonian regions.

General Structure 

• Structure
  Time/Duration	Segment	Speaker & Affiliation
  1:30 p.m./3 minutes	Opening and Context: Presentation of the session’s purpose and connection to COP30 and the Capacity-Building Hub	Marília Closs, Project Coordinator & Researcher, CIPÓ Platform
  1:33 p.m./ 8 minutes	Framing remarks – The importance of youth and women’s leadership in climate governance/Mana's project in Rio	Mariana de Paula, Executive Director, Decodifica Institute
  1:41 p.m./ 2 minutes	Moderator`s comments	Marília Closs, Project Coordinator & Researcher, CIPÓ Platform
  1:43 p.m./ 8 minutes	Framing remarks – The importance of youth and women’s leadership in climate governance/Mana's project in Pará	Acsa Castro, Director of Operations, Mandí
  1:51 p.m./2 minutes	Moderator`s comments	Marília Closs, Project Coordinator & Researcher, CIPÓ Platform
  1:53 p.m./ 8 minutes	Partner perspective – Supporting intersectional leadership and participatory data for adaptation	Jakeline Xavier, Communications Consultant, Hivos
  2:01 p.m./3 minutes	Moderator`s comments/Presentation of Mana's dynamic	Marília Closs, Project Coordinator & Researcher, CIPÓ Platform
  2:03 p.m./8 minutes	Regional insights – Youth perspectives from Rio de Janeiro	Francisca Cardoso, Manas's Rio de Janeiro Representative
  2:11 p.m./2 minutes	Moderator`s comments	Marília Closs, Project Coordinator & Researcher, CIPÓ Platform
  2:13 p.m. / 8 minutes	Regional insights – Youth perspectives from Belém	Maria Eduarda Santiago, Mana’s Belém Representative
  2:21 p.m./ 9 minutes	Collective synthesis and closing remarks – Key messages and next steps toward COP30	Decodifica & Mandí