IWGIA Updates: July to October 2020

IWGIA re-affirms its commitment to promote, protect and defend the rights of Indigenous Peoples at a time when the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the rise of populist leaders and a shrinking civil space for human rights, are posing tremendous threats to their lives, lands and traditions.

“Indigenous Peoples have continuously and consistently shown that they manage their lands, territories and natural resources sustainably and that their knowledge of biodiversity and the environment is crucial for the world community. Their contribution to climate actions for example has increasingly been recognised and requested by the world community,” Kathrin Wessendorf, IWGIA Executive Director, said.

On the eve of auctioning off 41 coal blocks by the Government of India, IWGIA and New Delhi-based National Campaign Against Torture and Indigenous Lawyers Association of India in their report, “Bearing the Brunt: The Impact of Government Responses to COVI-19 on Indigenous Peoples in India” urged the government to cancel the auctioning.

Follow our coverage and documentation on COVID-19

As the world experiences the outbreak and rapid spread of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020, IWGIA works to monitor how the situation is developing and what impacts the pandemic is having on Indigenous Peoples.

Violence, corruption, and false promises: Conservation and the Baka in Cameroon

Spending time with the Baka is a humbling experience. This group of over 40,000 spread between the forests of Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and Gabon, practice hunting and foraging as a traditional livelihood. Through their long history in the Congo Basin they have accumulated and passed on extensive ecological knowledge and sophisticated cultural mechanisms of egalitarianism, sharing and human-nature conviviality.

 

In September 2020 the Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Pact (AIPP) and IWGIA presented a joint submission to the UNFCCC calling for the full consideration and engagement of Indigenous Peoples in climate action.

Indigenous Peoples are concerned that vital climate negotiations for the planet’s survival have been postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. While this may suit some governments that are unwilling to do what it takes to make the Paris Agreement work, Indigenous Peoples are trying to build momentum in this stalemate period.

A Rapid Assessment Report The impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Bangladesh

From our partner Kapaeeng Foundation in Bangladesh: Author: Trimita Chakma; Editor: Pallab Chakma

Throughout 2020, IWIGA has continued to work with our partners to create dynamic video content on critical issues, ranging from the UNDRIP to COVID-19 and Consultation.

The most widespread and intractable forest fires ever recorded in Bolivia ravaged the lowland regions of Santa Cruz, Beni, La Paz and Cochabamba last year, making 2019 a particularly dark period for the country and for Indigenous Peoples as many of the affected areas were on Indigenous territories and conservation areas.

Unfortunately, that dark period has returned in 2020 with forest fires raging beyond last year’s devastating numbers.

Learn more here >>

As large parts of the world’s population are sitting at home in self- and authority-imposed isolation watching the development of the major public health crisis, governments in some countries are taking advantage of the situation. They are moving on with their repressive agendas, cracking down on opposition groups, silencing human rights defenders and independent media, and subjecting entire ethnic groups to brutal military campaigns. 
 

Russian oil spill exposes history of Indigenous Peoples’ rights violations

On 29 May an estimated 20,000 tons of diesel fuel leaked into the soil and natural water system near the city of Norilsk in northern Siberia after a fuel storage tank belonging to a daughter company of Russian nickel and copper giant Nornickel collapsed. A few days later, on 3 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the incident a federal scale disaster.
 

Read the report here >>

IWGIA is looking for a dedicated and skilled intern to help update our website content, help drive our social media presence and assist with the production and promotion of our bilingual annual flagship publication: The Indigenous World 2021. IWGIA’s yearbook, published since 1986, is a global report on the situation of Indigenous Peoples and functions as a go-to reference for the work of UN-diplomats, academics, policy-makers, civil society organisations, and Indigenous Peoples themselves.

Read more about the position here >>