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Movement of those Affected by Dams (MAB, for its Portuguese initials) is a popular, independent, mass, grassroots movement that attempts to organize those threatened or affected by dams, in general hydroelectric dams. It is a movement that fights to guarantee the rights of these populations, principally to land, forcing and contributing to the construction of a new, alternative, popular energy model for Brazil.

For 20 years, MAB has been growing with the integral participation of those affected in the life of the movement.  We are affected by dams: peasants, small farmers, the landless, indigenous people, fisher people, "ribeirinhos" (communities that live along the riverbanks), and "quilombolas" (black communities), mineral miners, as well as urban populations. In Brazil, we are more than one million people forced from our lands, our homes, our communities due to the dictatorial way in which dams are built. Currently, MAB is a national organization, present in 15 states of the country, and our grassroots work is a constant challenge to increase our organization and the consciousness of the struggle. We understand that organized struggle and the leading role of the masses is the motor for the transformation of our country’s reality. Therefore, training and informing the population affected or threatened by dams is the main tool for the conscious struggle in the construction of a Popular Project for Brazil. We consider the struggle of those affected by dams to be part of a greater struggle of the excluded working class in the construction of a new society and a Popular Project for Brazil. The capitalist, neoliberal model of society has increased social exclusion and the concentration of wealth, including water and energy, into the hands of a few. We need to build with the people, the project of the people, based on new values and principles.