• Our mission

    Our mission

    We promote and defend Indigenous Peoples' rights.
  • Our vision

    Our vision

    A world where Indigenous Peoples everywhere fully enjoy their internationally recognised rights.
  • Giving Tuesday
  • Empowering Arctic Indigenous Peoples
  • The Indigenous World 2024
  • IWGIA i Danmark
  • Volunteer with IWGIA
  • Indigenous women
  • Chittagong Hill Tracts: Indigenous Peoples Still at Serious Risk
  • Support Indigenous Peoples' rights
  • Giving Tuesday

    This is your chance to support IWGIA, a non-governmental human rights organization working for nearly 60 years in partnership with Indigenous Peoples from all 7 Indigenous socio-cultural regions of the world.

    Read more

  • Empowering Arctic Indigenous Peoples

    We have asked several people who have witnessed and been a part of the past 50 years of Indigenous Arctic diplomacy and politics to give their perspectives on these decades.

    Read more

  • The Indigenous World 2024

    The Indigenous World 2024 is available now!

    Click here to download it.

    Read more

  • IWGIA i Danmark

    IWGIA laver forskellige aktiviteter i Danmark om oprindelige folks rettigheder. Vi laver f.eks. events på Folkemødet på Bornholm, Klimafolkemødet i Middelfart og til Talk Town festivalen i København.

    Vores frivilliggruppe er åben for nye medlemmer.

    Læs mere om, hvor du kan møde os.

    Read more

  • Volunteer with IWGIA

    "Roots of the World" ("Verdens Rødder" in Danish) is IWGIA’s volunteer group in Denmark.

    We are curious about Indigenous Peoples, their cultural practices and political battles. We emphasise educating ourselves and spreading knowledge on Indigenous Peoples in diverse contexts.

    Anybody can join.

    Read more

  • Indigenous women

    In a world where one in three women experiences violence, where women do not have an equal say in decisions affecting their lives and where the predominant view on women in many cases is sexist and discriminatory – it is necessary that we all pull our weight to improve the situation.

    IWGIA is committed to contributing to this struggle and convinced that a lot can be achieved because Indigenous women are powerful changemakers despite the multi-dimensional challenges they face.

    Visit our page dedicated to Indigenous women to see our resources available.

    Read more

  • Chittagong Hill Tracts: Indigenous Peoples Still at Serious Risk

    On 2 December 1997, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord was signed, giving hope for lasting peace and development for the Indigenous Peoples of the CHT. However, more than 25 years later, Indigenous Peoples in the CHT in Bangladesh have experienced little to no peace or development and face continuous eviction.

    Find our CHT resources on our dedicated page here.

    Read more

  • Support Indigenous Peoples' rights

    Support our work to promote, protect and defend Indigenous Peoples' rights by becoming an IWGIA member or making a donation.

    Read more

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 >>

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
  • Networks across the globe
  • 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).
  • Observer status and expert member
  • Networks across the globe

 

Alliances and Coalitions

STAY CONNECTED

About IWGIA

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

For media inquiries click here

Indigenous World

IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.

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Contact IWGIA

Prinsessegade 29 B, 3rd floor
DK 1422 Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone: (+45) 53 73 28 30
E-mail: iwgia@iwgia.org
CVR: 81294410

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