Indigenous peoples have organised themselves and have also gained influence and spaces within the regional human rights mechanisms as the Inter-American Human Rights System and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The situation of indigenous peoples remains alarming in many countries: From land rights to women’ rights, indigenous peoples are highly challenged on the ground.
We support indigenous peoples in accessing and benefiting from local and regional human rights mechanisms as well as the UN system and its global agendas.
At the international level, indigenous peoples have crawled up the latter in the UN system: It started with the establishment of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1984 at the lowest level of the UN system, and now indigenous peoples are on the verge of getting a special status at the highest level of the UN.
On the local level, the rights of indigenous peoples are still not fully realised. The situation of indigenous peoples remains alarming in many countries: From land rights to women’ rights, indigenous peoples are highly challenged on the ground.
Every year, reports written by IWGIA show that the human rights of indigenous peoples are being violated and that indigenous rights defenders are increasingly threatened and many continue to be arrested or even murdered.
The Sustainable Development Goals work for indigenous peoples
For indigenous peoples, the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development provides an opportunity to access all of their rights. The targets include six explicit references to indigenous peoples.
The 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development is grounded on the principles of human rights, human dignity, non-discrimination, equality and participation that are essential for indigenous peoples’ access to all of their rights. This includes the 2030 Agenda’s overarching aim of “leaving no one behind”.
The inclusion of indigenous peoples in the review process and realisation of the SDGs is necessary to prevent indigenous peoples from being left behind.
IWGIA supports the interlink between the local and the global
The linking of international commitments and national laws and is one of the biggest challenges for indigenous peoples.
Therefore IWGIA is enhancing the bridging of the existing gap by supporting the initiatives of indigenous peoples’ organisations to empower them to flag their cases in relevant international forums. They bring documentation, cases and updates from the ground to encourage change at the local level.
The aim is to link decisions and policies adopted at the global level with the development of laws and policies at the local and regional level.
Collecting data on indigenous peoples' rights and the SDGs
With support from the EU, the online platform called the Indigenous Navigator have been developed for collecting community-generated data and information that visualises and identifies existing gaps in the implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights.
Through the indigenous Navigator questionnaires, communities can generate their own data and make them available on an online data portal. This will allow other actors to access in-depth information about indigenous peoples’ situation.
The Indigenous Navigator is aimed at raising indigenous peoples’ awareness of their rights through systematic data generation, and empowering them to claim their rights by using their data in dialogue with policy-makers and development stakeholders at the local, national and global levels.
At the end of May, indigenous peoples were left with frustration and disappointment as the preparatory process for the realization of the High Level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly, to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) was left in a limbo at the closing session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Taking into account the interdependent and indivisible nature of human rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) decided to initiate a process to create an Office of the Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR).
During the last weeks, IWGIA has been receiving disturbing news from New York about the hesitancy of the current President of the General Assembly to reconfirm the appointment of an indigenous co-facilitator on an equal basis with a State representative to facilitate the debate and negotiations related to the process towards the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous peoples were left with frustration and disappointment as the preparatory process for the realization of the High Level Plenary Meeting also known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples was left in a limbo at the closing session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Indigenous Women of the Americas today requested John Ashe, President of the United Nations General Assembly, to designate an indigenous delegate who, together with the states’ representative, will facilitate the process of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples to be held this September.
The Special Rapporteur James Anaya presented his comments during the International Expert Group Meeting held in New York last week. Anaya opened the conference outlining the barriers faced by indigenous peoples in regard to the realization of their right to health, including inadequate access to health services, culturally inappropriate provision of health services and contamination of their lands and natural resources.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending indigenous peoples’ rights. Read more.
Indigenous World
IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for indigenous peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.