The Indigenous World 2005: Editorial

The Indigenous World 2005: Editorial

The year 2004 marked the end of the first International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People and, for many, this was an opportunity to look back and assess the progress made since 1995.

At international and regional level, some important achievements have been made. There has been the creation of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2000), the designation of a UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People (2001), the recognition by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights of the problems faced by indigenous peoples/communities in Africa (2003) and the increased activity of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights around issues affecting indigenous peoples in Central and South America.

There has also been substantial progress in raising and promoting indigenous concerns within several UN programmes and, in particular, within the various international processes on environment and sustainable development, where respect for and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights has now been written into certain paragraphs of the final documents of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002), the IUCN World Parks Congress (Durban 2003) and the COP7 (Kuala Lumpur 2004; see article in this volume). Indigenous women, too, can look back on a decade that started with the Beijing Indigenous Women’s Declaration in 1995 and during which they were increasingly able to assert their rights and influence international debates – such as for instance during the 2004 Permanent Forum session (see this volume).

A great disappointment, however, has been the ending of the mandate of the Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in December 2004 without having achieved what was a “major objective” of the Decade – the adoption of a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the UN General Assembly. It is therefore crucial to indigenous peoples worldwide that the Working Group’s mandate be extended by the Commission on Human Rights, so that a strong and uplifting UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples can be adopted by the General Assembly as soon as possible. This is consistent with the General Assembly Resolution on the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, adopted in December 2004, which “urges all parties involved in the process of negotiation to do their utmost to carry out successfully the mandate of the open-ended intersessional working group established by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution l995/32 and to present for adoption as soon as possible a final draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples”.

As the concept of “indigenous” has gained increased acceptance and recognition internationally, indigenous peoples have become more self-confident and vocal at national level. Indigenous organisations, including indigenous women’s organisations, have multiplied and gained strength, even at times political influence, as in the case of Ecuador.

But the picture is varied and differs from country to country and continent to continent. There are examples of indigenous peoples gaining independence (East Timor) or de facto recognition of their right to self-determination (Canada). The vast majority of Latin American countries (with the notable exception of Chile) now constitutionally recognize the multi-ethnic nature of their populations, as well as indigenous peoples’ land rights. Of the 17 countries worldwide that have ratified ILO Convention No. 169, 13 are Latin American and Caribbean. In Asia and Africa, on the other hand, many countries still refuse to admit even the existence of indigenous peoples within their borders, let alone recognize their rights.

Globally, the Decade has thus been a mitigated success. As the many country reports in this volume of The Indigenous World show, much remains to be done – at international level but even more so at national and local level. 

The new decade will, to a very large extent, coincide with the implementation of the Millennium Declaration adopted in 2000 by 191 countries, and who thereby committed themselves to achieving eight major “Millennium” Development Goals (MDGs). 2015, i.e. when the decade ends, will in fact be the year when the goals on poverty, educa-tion, gender equality, child mortality, maternal health and HIV/AIDS are expected to have been met - if not 100% then at least to a very sig-nificant degree (50% or even 75%).

Indigenous peoples, however, have justly raised their concern over the fact that neither the Millennium Declaration nor the MDGs mention indigenous peoples, although these should be an obvious target group since they are usually the most exposed to poverty, illiteracy, poor health, etc., and are now also beginning to feel the devastating effect that HIV/AIDS can have on relatively small population groups (see e.g. Cambodia and the section on the Pacific).

Efforts are being made, however, to redress this situation. The forthcoming Permanent Forum session (May 2005) will thus focus on two of the goals – the eradication of poverty and the achievement of universal primary education - and the ILO (see this volume) and other major UN agencies who form part of the Inter-Agency Support Group to the Permanent Forum (IASG) have, during 2004, been looking at how concern for indigenous peoples can be included in their MDGs. Important work is also being done in terms of defining relevant indicators for assessing and monitoring the MDGs from an indigenous point of view. Right now, this angle is missing. For many indigenous peoples who survive on a subsistence economy, for instance, the MDG of “reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day” makes little sense. For them poverty should rather be seen in terms of deprivation – whether it be loss of land and access to natural resources or loss of traditional culture, knowledge and languages.

However, indigenous peoples and their organisations will have to face up to a major challenge – namely that efforts to achieve the MDGs may well take place at the expense of indigenous peoples’ cultures and livelihoods. This volume of The Indigenous World abounds in examples of “projects” carried out by states to create “development” and ensure national economic growth. Whether they be hydro-power dams (China, Laos), mining (India), logging (Russia) or nature conservation pro-grammes (Ethiopia), these projects have one thing in common: they drive indigenous peoples off their ancestral lands, deprive them of their subsistence resources and endanger their cultures. Yet looking at some of the 48 current MDG indicators, this situation may well continue since, in order to comply with the MDGs, governments will have to achieve sustained and broad-based economic growth; markedly increase their budgets for education, health and sanitation; improve the ratio of areas protected in order to maintain biological diversity, etc. It is to be feared that many countries will intensify their infrastructure investments, concentrate their efforts on health and education in easily accessible regions and turn to areas inhabited by indigenous peoples in order to meet environmental requirements.

The active and informed participation of indigenous organisations in assessing and monitoring the MDGs and states’ and international agencies’ efforts to achieve them will therefore be absolutely crucial in the years to come. In some countries, such as Tanzania and Kenya (this volume), indigenous organisations already have some experience from the participatory approach taken in relation to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the preparation of a comprehensive country-based strategy for poverty reduction. Similar indigenous involvement must be encouraged and developed in other countries, and be extended to include the whole MDG process. This will provide indigenous organisations with valuable experience and information that can be fed into the Permanent Forum and the IASG, thereby enabling the various UN agencies and mechanisms to take affirmative action if and when necessary.

 

 

Diana Vinding

Coordinating co-editor

 

This article is part of the 19th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2005 in full here

 

 

This article is part of the 19th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2005 in full here

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