Who we are
Our Mission
Liyang is a local to global advocacy network that amplifies the calls to action of frontline environmental and human rights defenders in Mindanao, Philippines.
We started in the Philippines at the request of our primary community partner, Sabokahan -- Unity of Lumad Women, who wanted a network to bring together their allies from the Philippines and beyond to help promote their calls to action.
Liyang’s advocacy work aims to:
Educate the international community on the victories and struggles of grassroots communities in the Philippines through workshops, lectures, community discussions and campaign work
Fundraising for their basic needs and services through campaign work
Collaborate with community partners to amplify their calls to action through a wide array of media platforms and artistic mediums worldwide.
Facilitate culturally responsive exchange programs and projects between grassroots organizations in the Philippines and their supporters.
Our Vision
Liyang Network envisions a future where all communities can pursue their economic, social, and cultural development free from exploitation. We believe that applying the particular knowledge developed by environmental and human rights defenders in the Philippines is essential to realizing this vision. As members of the international community, we understand that all struggles for environmental protection are interconnected and that global movements for the defense of land and self-determination can draw inspiration from grassroots struggles in Philippines, and particularly in Mindanao.
Sabokahan is our primary community partner in Mindanao, Philippines.
Sabokahan is an intergenerational, inter-tribal grassroots organization by and for Lumad women. Sabokahan aspires for the equal respect and recognition of indigenous women’s rights, capacities, and leadership in the overall struggle of the indigenous peoples for the right to life, ancestral land, and self-determination manifested in their own governance and development of their territories and affairs; and in general for the emancipation of all class, gender, race, and sectors from all forms of oppression and exploitation. Sabokahan envisions a society of social justice, true equality and genuine peace where the political, socio-economic and cultural roots of the marginalization and exploitation of women, indigenous peoples and other oppressed people have been resolved. To learn more, visit their website at sabokahan.org, or find them on Facebook and Instagram.
