The Indigenous World 2026: Editorial

Written on 22 April 2026. Posted in The Indigenous World Editorial

Celebrating 40 years of documentation

The Indigenous World has been one of the most consistent and comprehensive sources of documentation on the situation and rights of Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Produced annually by IWGIA, the publication provides authoritative analysis on developments affecting Indigenous Peoples in more than 60 countries across all seven sociocultural regions and more than 20 international processes and mechanisms.

This 2026 edition marks the 40th anniversary of this unique publication — a milestone that highlights both the enduring value of longterm documentation and the importance of centring Indigenous perspectives in global discussions.

The documentation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights is at the very core of IWGIA’s work. It is through solid and rigorous documentation that we, together with our partners, document and build knowledge about Indigenous Peoples’ rights and use that as a foundation to advocate for a world where Indigenous Peoples can fully exercise and enjoy their inherent and internationally recognized rights.

The idea for this unique book arose out of the Workshop on Indigenous Rights held in Geneva in September 1986, where IWGIA was requested to present a synopsis of the major events in the Indigenous world over the previous 12 months. The reaction of the participants was that a detailed version of the account would be of immense value.

This article is part of the 40^th 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 2026 in full here

The first edition covered 66 countries and territories, as well as five international processes and global issues relevant to Indigenous Peoples. Since the first edition, the publication has become directly linked to the Indigenous Peoples’ struggle for the recognition and protection of their rights, emerging as a key advocacy tool advancing these rights at national, regional, and international levels.

In 1989, the book started being produced in both English and Spanish to reach even more audiences and, in 1993, we changed the name from IWGIA Yearbook to The Indigenous World, signifying a shift away from including IWGIA’s annual report and toward a greater focus on the situation of Indigenous Peoples worldwide.

Over these last 40 years, The Indigenous World has, in total, covered 56 international mechanisms, processes, and issues concerning Indigenous Peoples, from global UN mechanisms to regional processes across all seven sociocultural regions.

From 1988 to 2009, across 20 editions, we covered the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), from its drafting process through to its adoption in 2007 and its first year of implementation. Since 1994, across 28 editions, we have been covering the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, from the working group set up to establish the Forum to its formation in 2000, and through to its activities to date. From 2001, across 25 editions, we began covering the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, since the Human Rights Commission established the mandate, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026. In the same year, we also began covering the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) since the establishment of its Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities and Minorities (WGIPM), and every year since.

Over 40 years, 119 countries and territories have been covered in the book. In those 40 years, eight countries have been documented in all 40 editions, nine countries have been documented in 39 editions, and 24 other countries and territories have been covered in 30 or more editions.

None of this would have been possible without the incredible dedication of our network of volunteer authors who generously give their time and expertise to document the situation of Indigenous Peoples year after year.

Since 1986 until today, over 950 different individuals have contributed their analysis to The Indigenous World. These volunteer authors include Indigenous, as well as nonindigenous, activists, scholars, lawyers, leaders, civil society and NGO workers, community members, human rights defenders, UN Special Rapporteurs, and more.

We wish to thank them and celebrate the bonds and sense of community that result from the close cooperation needed to make this oneofa kind documentation tool available.

As we celebrate 40 years of The Indigenous World, the 2026 edition includes 87 national, regional, and international reports, and includes an editorial focus on peace and security and the rising threats Indigenous Peoples are facing. The trends identified in this editorial are a synthesis of the analysis the authors of the articles within this book have documented.

Peace and security under pressure

When the UN was created in the aftermath of the Second World War, its core purpose was to prevent new global conflicts through a system grounded in the peaceful resolution of disputes, the collective maintenance of international peace and security, and the promotion and protection of human rights and nondiscrimination as fundamental principles. Today, however, this founding vision is under severe strain. The UN system is facing one of the deepest crises in its history as ongoing wars, escalating geopolitical tensions, and widespread violations of international law reveal the weakening of the very mechanisms designed to uphold peace, security, human rights, and equality worldwide.

Decades of multilateral progress is being questioned or abandoned. Democratic and civil society spaces are shrinking as conflict rhetoric is heightening, and budgets are shifting away from human rights protections and environmental stewardship towards militarization, weaponry, defence systems and the extraction of “strategic” resources.

As the UN system struggles to uphold its founding mandate and States double down on “security first” agendas, the resulting policies are having devastating effects. Nowhere is this contradiction more visible than in the lives of Indigenous Peoples, whose rights, territories, and security are being further undermined in the name of “peace and stability”.

Many Indigenous Peoples and their communities and territories are disproportionately affected by armed conflicts, militarization, the activities of and wars against illegal cartels, and territorial sovereignty disputes between States. In many cases, their steadfast defence of their lands, rights, and ways of life makes them targets of violence, displacement, and persecution. These dynamics often unfold without acknowledging Indigenous Peoples in policy frameworks or peacebuilding strategies, despite their vast knowledge and experience in conflict resolution. Their exclusion perpetuates cycles of violence and undermines efforts toward sustainable peace in all societies.

In a statement at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in April 2025, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Dr. Albert K. Barume “drew attention to cases in which States have ‘taken shortcuts’ by labelling Indigenous Peoples ‘terrorists’, ‘extremists’ or ‘radicalized communities’, which represents a missed opportunity, both for the international community working for peace, and for States on whose lands these issues are recurring.”1

The Special Rapporteur further noted in his interim report on “Identification, demarcation, registration and titling of Indigenous Peoples’ lands: practices and lessons”, which he presented to the 3rd Committee of the UN General Assembly on 13 October 2025, that there is an “urgent need for stronger recognition and protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, particularly regarding land demarcation, legal recognition and protection from criminalization and violence”.2 These rights are not only legal obligations but also contribute strongly to the peace and security of Indigenous Peoples and others, as well as to a more sustainable relationship with nature, and ensure the survival of Indigenous cultures, languages, and knowledge.

Indigenous Peoples have deep, generational experience with conflict resolution, justice, mediation and peacebuilding, and yet their long history is either ignored in Security Council and UN resolutions or, while recognized, they are excluded from the international security discussion and decisionmaking processes. Even when Indigenous Peoples are included in conflict resolution or peacebuilding frameworks, in most cases their role in implementation is not recognized, which can lead to further marginalization, undermining the sustainability of peace efforts. As conflicts intensify worldwide, Indigenous Peoples are also increasingly targeted — a direct violation of the principles enshrined in the UNDRIP and the Charter of the United Nations itself. No serious conversation on peace and security can ignore Indigenous Peoples' reality. Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ rights, protection, and participation is essential, not only for justice but for any meaningful prospect of lasting peace.

Shifting budgets away from rights and international protections

The targeting of Indigenous Peoples and their lands and territories in the name of “peace and security” is only one front of a broader assault. Another, less visible one is emerging as States redirect budgets away from human rights and international protection frameworks. While conflicts may capture global attention, these financial and political shifts are quietly undermining Indigenous Peoples’ peace, security, and rights.

When U.S. President Trump took office in January 2025, one of his first actions was to effectively and almost immediately shut down the operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This abrupt dismantling halted thousands of programmes worldwide and left millions of people without access to lifesaving care — mainly the poorest of the poor, among whom Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately represented. Although the specific impacts on Indigenous Peoples have not yet been comprehensively assessed, this sudden loss has inevitably negatively impacted the international support that many Indigenous communities accessed to help advance and safeguard their rights.

We are also witnessing major cuts to development cooperation budgets and programmes on the part of many Western states. The efficacy and legitimacy of the multilateral system has also been crippled and called into question by the US President’s decision to withdraw from 66 international bodies, including 31 UNaffiliated entities, in January 2026. The domino effect of this additional sweeping policy decision is as yet unknown.

However, what we do know, as evidenced throughout the reports in this book, is that this is leaving Indigenous Peoples vulnerable to land dispossession, eviction, human trafficking, sexual violence, criminalization for any human rights defence work, or worse.

The weakening of these international spaces represents the weakening of one of the few and strongest platforms where Indigenous Peoples have fought for their rights, have made significant progress in their recognition as distinct Peoples and which they have at their disposal to further their rights, as those spaces in their national context are often nonexistent or tokenistic.

Rush for resources bypasses protections

Another area where we see an increasing risk of violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights is in the global rush for resources, namely critical minerals, which are now beginning to be considered through the lens of “peace and security” as strategic assets. The socalled green transition, while still framed as a response to climate change and the clean energy transition, is also being viewed as integral to national security. In fact, the World Bank forecasts a 500% increase in demand for these minerals by 2050,3 and the International Energy Agency estimates increases of 40% for copper and Rare Earth Elements (REEs),

6070% for nickel and cobalt and almost 90% for lithium by 2040.4 Indigenous Peoples are at the forefront of this demand as more than 54% of the global reserves of these energy transition minerals lie on or near their lands.5 Framing certain minerals as “critical” allows governments to classify mining as a matter of national security or economic emergency, granting companies the right to operate on Indigenous territories without respecting their right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).6

In some cases, Indigenous Peoples are being seen as inconvenient obstacles and their rights as incompatible with national interests. Laws and protections are being sidestepped for the sake of urgency, and protocols, such as FPIC, if not already ignored or improperly implemented, are now being compromised with compressed timelines for consent or meaningful consultation.

Indigenous Peoples and defenders who live in these areas, speak up, peacefully protest, or participate in international spaces and institutions are now being seen and framed as antipeace, antisecurity, and antistate. They are facing intensified surveillance, intimidation, criminalization and silencing, as are Indigenous Peoples’ own organizations. While their actions remain legal on paper, they are increasingly forced to operate in politically and physically unsafe spaces.

The shift away from the green transition as an environmental concern to a prong of national security strategies has also impacted the energy sector. Budgets and priorities are focusing on the speed at which energy independence can be secured. As some countries have been making concerted progress in mitigating emissions, as one of many climate actions, we are thus also seeing an increase in the use of fossil fuels: coalfired energy power plants are being reopened, oil and gas leases are expanding, and extraction and development projects are escalating.

Much of this is being done without consulting Indigenous Peoples or their vast knowledge of best practices. In fact, Indigenous Peoples have noted solutions and good practices, based on their own knowledge, sciences, technologies, lived experiences and timetested practices for restoration of sustainable food production and soil, ecosystem protection, and true and equitable just transition, distinct from models based on imposition, extraction, and colonialism.7

Indigenous Peoples continue fighting with resolve

Despite this global shift at an unprecedented pace, and all the violations, attacks, evictions, land loss, and climate change effects that have multiplied with it, Indigenous Peoples around the world were also able to celebrate a number of victories in 2025.

By continuously standing up for their rights, using national and international law, gathering in solidarity for collective action, and never letting their spirit break, Indigenous Peoples in 2025 successfully stopped harmful infrastructure projects, protected their lands, secured rights in national and international laws and processes, took decisionmaking positions, negotiated the return of ancestral remains as well as compensation for historical harms, and developed their own strategies for security.

The reports in this year’s edition show that the obstacles Indigenous Peoples face in the protection of their rights, lands, resources, territories and dignity are increasing. And yet Indigenous Peoples’ collective strategies are also increasing, and the resourcefulness, adaptability, and energy they have always had to employ continues.

Indigenous Peoples know what is being taken from them, they are fighting against the injustices of past colonialism and extractivism simultaneously with a new economic force that continues to thirst for their lands and knowledge.

Today’s colonialism is taking shape in “green” policies that sometimes ignore Indigenous Peoples and lay claim to their lands, which some are calling “green colonialism”. Today’s extraction continues to be that of resources but now, with the rise of artificial intelligence, that extraction is expanding into the realm of Indigenous knowledge and data being collected about them, their lands and their practices, often without consent.

Indigenous Peoples know this, and they keep on fighting for their rights and for an equal footing, to be a genuine and meaningful part of local to national to global participation, recognition, and decisionmaking. They are not standing in the way or impeding the speed of progress or security; they simply want that progress to be just and they want people and governments to be held to account when those processes are unfair. Indigenous Peoples are not resisting the future; they are asserting their right to shape it, ensuring that ongoing and historical injustices are neither ignored nor repeated.

Dwayne Mamo

General Editor

Lola GarcíaAlix

Senior Advisor, Human Rights Systems

Kathrin Wessendorf

Executive Director Copenhagen, March 2026

This article is part of the 40^th 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 2026 in

Notes and references

• Albert Kwokwo Barume, “Statement of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 24th Session, Agenda Item 5(d), New York, 28 April ” https://unsr. albertbarume.org/site/?p=974
• Albert K. Barume, “A/80/181: Identification, Demarcation, Registration and Titling of Indigenous Peoples’ Lands: Practices and ” Interim report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, 13 October 2025. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematicreports/a80181identificationdemarcationregistrationandtitlingindigenous

• “ClimateSmart Mining: Minerals for Climate ” World Bank, last modified 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/climatesmartminingmineralsforclimateaction
• “The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions: Mineral Requirements for Clean Energy ” International Energy Agency, 2021. https://www. iea.org/reports/theroleofcriticalmineralsincleanenergytransitions/ mineralrequirementsforcleanenergytransitions
• John R. Owen and Deanna Kemp, “Energy Transition Minerals and Their Intersection with LandConnected ” Nature Sustainability 6, no. 2 (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893022009946
• Galina Angarova and Yblin Román Escobar, “What Does a Just Transition Look Like for Indigenous Peoples?” Debates Indígenas, 1 June 2025. https:// org/en/2025/06/01/whatdoesajusttransitionlooklikeforindigenouspeoples/
• “Indigenous Peoples’ Principles and Protocols for Just ” Just Transition Indigenous Peoples’ Summit, October 2024. https://www. indigenoussummit.org/summitoutcome

Tags: Global governance