While the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007 by a vase majority of votes, many Asian governments refuse to accept its applicability to their countries. Due to the lack of a defi nition of ‘indigenous peoples’ and an interpretation of the concept as applying only to the context of Western settler colonialism the...

This yearbook contains a comprehensive update on the current situation of indigenous peoples and their human rights, and provides an overview of the most important developments in international and regional processes during 2012. In 67 articles, indigenous and non-indigenous scholars and activists provide their insight and knowledge to the book with country reports covering most of the indigenous...

This collection of photos is part of a project that aims at raising awareness about and creating understanding for the situation of indigenous youth living in cities by offering young indigenous city dwellers a virtual and visual forum for intercontinental and intergenerational exchange. The participants of the project received training in digital photography. The idea was to give them a tool to d...

In 2012 UNESCO and the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention celebrated the Convention’s 40th anniversary through a series of activities, events and thematic workshops around the world, the outcomes of which are meant to “feed the reflection on the future of the Convention”. The theme of the anniversary was “World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Local Communitie...

This report summarizes the first global meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD. This brief text cannot provide a verbatim account of the Forum deliberations or do justice to the wealth of comments and insights, experiences and stories that were shared. Rather, the report provides an overview of the main messages conveyed, the key topics discussed, the recommendations put forward by ind...

This publication is a collection of stories of struggle of some indigenous women in Asia who directly face the negative impacts of mining. These testimonies have been shared earlier in the following fora: National Consultation Workshop on ASEAN Mechanisms, Corporate Social Responsibilities and Indigenous Peoples, Baguio City, Philippines, 13- 14 November 2010 National Consultation Workshop on...

L’adoption de la Déclaration des droits des peuples autochtones par l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies, le 13 septembre 2007, fut un événement très attendu par l’ensemble des organisations autochtones dont les représentants avaient participé à sa négociation durant plus de vingt ans. Elle fut célébrée par le nouveau Secrétaire général de l’ONU, Ban Ki-moon qui y vit «...

This report describes pilot research conducted by the Samburu Women Trust (SWT), formerly known as SWEEDO), a community based organization located in Nanyuki, Kenya. The research focused on a practice known as “beading,” which can be briefly described as a community-sanctioned, non-marital sexual relationship between Samburu men in the “warrior” age group, and young Samburu girls who are n...

From 5-6 November, an indigenous preparatory meeting in Copenhagen discussed Indigenous Peoples’ experi-ences, challenges and opportunities with regard to business and human rights, as well as the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for implementing the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, possible ways of engaging with the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and...

La République du Niger a une population multi-ethnique, parmi laquelle, les Touareg, les Peulh et les Toubou s‘auto-identifient comme autochtones. La notion de peuples autochtones n‘est pas reconnue au Niger mais ces trois groupes ethniques emploient le concept « autochtone » dans son sens moderne analytique dans une tentative d‘attirer l‘attention sur les formes particulières de discr...

This report explores the potential impacts of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia transport corridor project (LAPSSET) on Indigenous peoples in Kenya as observed by a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. It outlines some of the potential threats that Indigenous Peoples face and provides some recommendations to address these challenges. Views and opinions expressed in t...

The purpose of this Report, which has as background the recent events concerning the acts of police violence and criminalization of the territorial claims of the Rapa Nui peoples which occurred in the years 2010 and 2011, is to assess the human rights situation of the Rapa Nui people. This document corresponds to the Report prepared by a group of observers from different latitudes and disciplines,...

Cette publication donne un aperçu des présentations faites lors du séminaire régional de sensibilisation organisé par le Groupe de travail de la Commission africaine sur les populations/communautés autochtones en République du Congo du 22 au 25 août 2011. Un des objectifs de ce séminaire était d’informer les acteurs clés d’Afrique centrale et de l’est sur l’approche de la Commis...

This publication gives an overview of the presentations made at the regional sensitization seminar organized by the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities in the republic of Congo on 22 to 25 August 2011. One of the objectives of the seminar was to inform key stakeholders from East and Central Africa on the African Commission’s approach to promoting the rights...

In Africa, indigenous peoples are mainly different groups of hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. Their culture and way of life differ considerably from the dominant society. The survival of their particular way of life depends on access and rights to their traditional land and resources. Indigenous peoples also suffer from discrimination. They are subject to domination and exploitation within natio...

The surviving lands of indigenous peoples include many of the most vulnerable and threatened ecosystems on our planet. Indigenous peoples have always made clear that they are culturally, spiritually, and economically interlinked with those lands. They, however, continue to suffer abuse of their rights, because of the desecration of these ecosystems that they hold sacred. Nowhere is this more keenl...

Samburu Women Trust (SWT): The untold stories of women and girls in Samburu community http://www.samburuwomentrust.org/

In Kemerovo Oblast, West Siberia, the coal-mining industry is extracting “black gold” while destroying the environment and the rich traditional culture and natural resource management of the Shorts and the Teleut– two of Russia’s small numbered indigenous peoples. The development of resource-intensive industries in Kemerovo Oblast has high environmental costs, including the deterioration o...

Briefing note about the environmental consequences of mineral mining on the indigenous Evenkis, Nenets, Dolgans, Nganasans and Ents of the Russian Taimyr Peninsula. In the Taimyr Peninsula, the Norisk Nikel Company is extracting and processing precious minerals. It produces 35% of the world’s Palladium, 25% of its platinum, 20% of its nickel and 10% of its cobalt. The Taimyr Peninsula was once t...

This manual aims to build the capacities of the indigenous peoples, networks and organizations to advocate and work for the effective implementation of FPIC for indigenous peoples in the activities and projects relating to REDD+. In particular, the objective of this manual is to equip indigenous peoples with the knowledge and understanding of FPIC and REDD+; and to provide a general guide to commu...

IWGIA's Annual Report 2011 gives examples of some of the activities implemented or supported by IWGIA during 2011 and major results. You can order a free copy through: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak707fae6e8c50650d6e059f01f1ce7714').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; ...

The Russian Federation is home to more than 100 different peoples. Of these, 41 are legally recognised as “indigenous, small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East”; others are still striving to obtain this status, which is conditional upon a people: • having no more than 50,000 members;• maintaining a traditional way of life;• inhabiting certain remote regions of Russi...

En Afrique, les peuples autochtones se composent essentiellement de différents groupes de chasseurs-cueilleurs et d’éleveurs. Leur culture et mode de vie diffèrent considérablement de ceux de la société dominante. La survie de leur mode de vie dépend de leur accès à la terre et aux ressources. Les peuples autochtones sont aussi victimes de discrimination. Ils font l’objet de dominatio...

Depuis les dix dernières années, la Commission africaine des droits de l’Homme et des peuples (commission africaine) a pris des mesures audacieuses pour comprendre, expliquer et aborder la situation des droits humains des communautés autochtones en Afrique. Le Groupe de travail de la Commission africaine sur les populations/communautés autochtones (Groupe de travail) a été le point d’anc...

Climate change has become an environmental problem affecting people throughout the world. Climate change is mainly the result of increasing global temperature, which results in shifting weather patterns such as unseasonal rains that affect agriculture, droughts, floods, plagues and diseases. Global warming is mainly the result of the increase of greenhouse gases, above all CO2, in the earth’s at...

IWGIA rapport 13: Droits et moyens de subsistance des peubles autchtones dans le Sud-Est du Cameroun Les peuples autochtones de chasseurs-cueilleurs des forêts tropicales humides d’Afrique Centrale possèdent un patrimoine coutumier solide et précieux, développé au fil des millénaires dans des cultures qui sont particulièrement adaptées à vivre en forêt et à l’exploiter de façon har...

The United Republic of Tanzania (URT) has a multi-ethnic population with more than 125 different ethnic communities. Four of these—the Hadzabe, the Akie, the Maasai and the Barabaig—identify themselves as indigenous peoples. The concept of indigenous peoples is not acknowledged in Tanzania but the government “recognizes the vulnerability of some of the marginalized communities”. In early 2...

The indigenous hunter/gatherer peoples of the Central African rainforests have a strong and valuable customary heritage, developed over millennia in cultures that are uniquely adjusted to living in and utilizing the forest in a harmonious and sustainable way. Today, the cultures and very survival of the indigenous peoples of Central Africa are under severe threat, as a result of being pushed off t...

When discussing, planning and implementing sustainable development and environmental conservation project, a most important voice often tends to remain unheard: the voice of indigenous women. This despite the fact that indigenous women have valuable and specialized knowledge and experience with managing natural resources and protecting the environment that could play a key role in sustainable deve...