Masro Delima Silalahi

Delima is an Indigenous Batak Toba woman from Indonesia and works with an NGO called Study Group of Community Initiative Development. As a staff member in the Study and Advocacy unit, Delima investigates human rights violations in Indigenous communities and implements advocacy strategies based on investigations. Delima has over ten years of involvement in advocating for the rights of ethnic Batak communities facing challenge from adverse development policies initiated by State and private corporations and unfair market practices in the agriculture industry. She has been involved in assisting villagers evicted by large electric power project in North Sumatera, such as the Asahan, Lae Renun and Simonggo hydroelectric power plants, the Sarulla geothermal power Plant, and the Labuhan Angin steam power plant. Recently, she has been involved in supporting communities whose traditional incense producing trees are being destroyed by a large pulp producing company owned by a conglomerate based in Singapore. Delima believes that the biggest challenge in human rights advocacy lies in empowering farmers to advocate for their rights in relation to the local government. She also sees the challenges of advocacy posed by the complex nature of multinational corporations. Through this training program, Delima hopes to learn effective strategies in advocating for human rights of Indigenous peoples.