About IWGIA

IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

We protect and defend Indigenous Peoples’ collective and individual rights, including the right to self-determination by virtue of which they can freely determine their political status and freely pursue their selfdetermined economic, social and cultural development.

To us, everything begins with partnerships.

We work through a global network of partners, first and foremost Indigenous Peoples’ own organisations and networks but also support NGOs, academia, international human rights bodies and alliances. Over our more than 55-year history, IWGIA has built and developed unique, long-standing partnerships with Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and networks from all 7 Indigenous socio-cultural regions of the world.

Everything we do is with and in support of Indigenous Peoples.

Through our engagement with the Indigenous Peoples’ movement around the world, we have learned the importance of local leadership and flexible and agile support. In close cooperation with our partners, we coordinate, enhance and, when necessary, lead advocacy efforts at national, regional and international levels in pursuit of common objectives within a framework of dialogue, mutual trust, respect and cooperation.

In this way, IWGIA plays a global, facilitative support role for Indigenous Peoples and the advancement of their rights.

IWGIA was founded in 1968 by anthropologists alarmed about the ongoing genocide of Indigenous Peoples taking place in the Amazon. The aim was to establish a network of researchers and human right activists to document the situation of Indigenous Peoples and advocate for an improvement of their rights.

In 1989, IWGIA obtained Observer NGO status at the United Nations and uses this, among other interventions, to facilitate access on the part of Indigenous Peoples’ organisations that would not otherwise be able to participate.

Every year since 1986, IWGIA has published The Indigenous World, a yearbook that provides unique insights into and updates on the development of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. You can download all editions of The Indigenous World for free here >>

IWGIA's history

Jens Dahl, former director of IWGIA, presents an original and inspiring perspective on IWGIA’s history of interaction and partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and their organisations as well as academia, governments, regional and international human rights institutions. The book is also a tour de force of terms, developments and milestones achieved by indigenous peoples across the globe.

Title: IWGIA - a history
Authored by: Jens Dahl
Copenhagen 2009
Prepared with financial support from the Danish and Norwegian Ministries of Foreign Affairs

Download book

Our mission

We promote and defend Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

Our vision

A world where all Indigenous Peoples fully enjoy their internationally recignised rights.

Our values

Trust, honesty and respect - Integrity and transparency - Accountability - Independence - Urgency Partnerships

Together with our partners we design and implement activities and projects for Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and institutions in order to connect local, regional and international demands.

We ensure that Indigenous voices are heard by facilitating their participation in the UN system and in national dialogues. Our longstanding partnership with Indigenous Peoples organisations and human rights institutions has created a global network that inspires change through sharing of good practices and experiences.

Observer status and expert member

IWGIA has consultative/observer status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Arctic Council and and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). IWGIA has observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR). IWGIA staff served from 2002 until 2020 as an expert member of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities (WGIP) of the African Commission.
Networks across the globe

IWGIA is an active member of European networks and coalitions such as the European Network for Indigenous Peoples (ENIP), the Forum for Development Cooperation for Indigenous Peoples, the International Land Coalition (ILC), the Coalition of European Lobbies on Eastern African Pastoralism (CELEP) and the Working Group on Human Rights and Climate Change (WG HRCC).