Human rights defenders are dying, attacked and criminalized all over the world. This is happening at an increasingly alarming rate. In 2017, over 400 people were killed while protecting their community’s land or natural resources. Approximately half of these were indigenous peoples. The conference aimed to understand why in particular and increasingly indigenous peoples from developing countries...

Indigenous women and girls are the most vulnerable group in Bangladesh. They face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination due to their gender, ethnicity, language, religion, class and geographic location.

The Samburu are a Nilotic community who reside in Northern Kenya. One cultural practice among the Samburu community is Girl-Child Beading. This practice sanctions a non-marital sexual relationship between Samburu men in the ‘warrior’ age group and young Samburu girls (usually between the ages of 9-15 years) who are not yet eligible for marriage. The practice has been in the community for centu...

This briefing note call attention to the ongoing situation of harassments and arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders in Loliondo in northern Tanzania.It offers an account of the recent events taking place in the area and background information. IWGIA believes that these developments are a cause of great concern. The detentions, harassment and trumped up charges undermine civil society and oth...

This urgent alert is based on the forceful evictions of Maasai pastoralists from their homes and grazing lands in Loliondo Division, Ngorongoro District in Northern Tanzania and the gross human rights violations that are being committed. The eviction operation started on the 4th July 2009 and was conducted by the notorious riot police, the Field Force Unit, with assistance of private guards from t...

This desk study documents the adverse impacts on indigenous communities from coal mining in the regions of la Guajira and Cesar, home to 90 percent of Colombia's coal production as well as several indigenous peoples such as the Wayuu, Yukpa and Kogui.   SUMMARY Colombia is home to more than 90 indigenous peoples, comprising some 1,374,000 inhabitants or 3.2% of the national population. Rec...

Eviction of Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral lands is one of the most destructive and degrading mitigation strategy performed by modern governments in developing countries to address climate change. Armed police and soldiers are used to forcefully evict indigenous peoples to pave the way for investors and conservation in the name of climate change mitigation. The advent of climate change in...

The global goals and targets for sustainable development have been adopted but indicators are still being formulated. Indicators define what will be measured, and thus how the goals and targets will be implemented. In this position paper Indigenous peoples point at some of their most central concerns on indicators, implementation and monitoring of the 2013 development agenda. This Paper is elabora...

The success of the Post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs) will depend on the adoption of indicators that allow measuring progress towards targets and provide helpful information to policymakers. In preparation for the March 3-6, 2015 discussions at the UN in New York, the UN Statistical Commission compiled recommendations from the UN system. We applaud the inclusion of land rights indicato...

Indigenous peoples play a crucial role in defending and protecting their forest land rights. The passing of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act of 2006 is a positive step towards the recognition of indigenous forest dwellers’ land rights and their role in forest protection. In line with the new legislation, IWGIA has developed a community-...

In early 2015, Maasai and Datoga citizens living in the Morogoro region of Tanzania were victims of deadly, ethnic violence. According to reports from local media, the assaults were instigated by public figures interested in acquiring land, and state authorities have not intervened to protect Maasai citizens. Police protection has instead been given to others who are illegally cultivating official...

This technical briefing authored by a number of international organizations working on food security, natural resources management and poverty eradication and endorsed by many local civil society organisations around the world strongly encourage governments to keep the profile of land and natural resources high in the document on sustainable development goals to be endorsed in September 2015. “...

Indigenous peoples perspectives and recommendations to the subsidiary body for scientific and technological advice (SBSTA). AIPP Submission on Methodological Issues Related to Non-Carbon Benefits Resulting from the Implementation of REDD+ Activities. March 26, 2014

AIPP Submission to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) on Safeguards Information System.

Women – both indigenous and non-indigenous – have actively engaged in international and national REDD+ processes to raise their concerns regarding the potential negative impact of REDD+ on women, and to assert their right to equally participate in negotiations, planning and implementation of REDD+. Indigenous women share many of the basic concerns and needs with their non-indigenous sisters bu...

This briefing note presents the findings of seven case studies conducted from May to June 2014. The studies were conducted in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal and Thailand and looked into the livelihood and food security among indigenous shifting cultivation communities in South and Southeast Asia. The briefing note provides a summary of the main findings of the case studies and...

Land grabbing is the large-scale acquisition of land for commercial or industrial purposes, such as agricultural and biofuel production, mining and logging concessions or tourism. It involves land being purchased by investors rather than producers, often foreign investors. This is done with limited (if any) consultation of the local communities, limited (if any) compensation, and a lack of regard ...

Indigenous peoples constitute 5 % of the world’s population but 15 % of the world’s poor. They make up around 1/3 of the world’s extremely poor rural population. Many lack access to, control over and suffer pollution of their water resources, severely damaging their health, livelihood and cultural survival. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a unique opportunity to address these ...

The universal Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda are crucial for indigenous peoples as they will determine the direction of global sustainability and development efforts over the coming decade. Indigenous peoples make up more than 370 million people worldwide and 15% of the world’s poorest individuals. They represent more than 5,000 distinct ethnic groups a...

Many of the areas of highest biological diversity on the planet are inhabited by indigenous peoples. The current and accelerating climatic and environmental changes threaten indigenous peoples’ basis for existence around the world. The post-2015 development agenda offers a unique opportunity to address indigenous peoples’ key concerns and possible solutions for environmental sustainability bey...

This report is the result of a monitoring visit to assess IWGIA’s support to promoting and defending indigenous peoples’ rights in the new constitution and beyond. Indigenous peoples in Nepal, known as adivasi janajati, have for centuries experienced systematic discrimination and marginalisation both socially, culturally, politically and economically. The chance to right the historical wrongs ...

Indigenous and community-based monitoring systems is efficient, simple and cost-effective This case study focuses on the capacity of local communities to monitor biodiversity and resources in Madagascar, Nicaragua, Philippines and Tanzania. It makes a controlled comparison between local community monitoring and trained scientists’ monitoring and conclude that local and indigenous communities gen...

This case study from Peru illustrates the importance of Non-Carbon Benefits (NCBs) to REDD+, and particularly the effects of land demarcation and titling of indigenous communities, its impact on governance and democracy, on social structures and livelihoods, and on environment and forest cover. The case shows that NCBs are both land tenure rights as well as subsistence and coffee production, illus...

There is increasing and widespread recognition that, in order to make greenhouse gas emissions reductions/removals possible and enduring in the forest sector, REDD+ must broaden its scope from a highly carbon-focused to a more holistic approach. Hence, initiatives to achieve Non-Carbon Benefits (NCBs), in association with a robust safeguards regime, are as important as carbon-related measures and ...

This discussion paper traces the evolution of the concept of indigenous peoples in the UN system and aims at giving a better understanding of why the concept of indigenous peoples is relevant in an Asian context. Due to the lack of a definition of ‘indigenous peoples’ and the fact that the concept is often interpreted into a context of Western settler colonialism the concept remains contested ...

Indigenous women face a range of problems related to the violation of their rights. This note focuses on the causes and how they can be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda. It has been prepared by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) in collabo-ration with Tebtebba and is intended as a discussion paper for stakeholders in the post-2015 development process.

Indigenous peoples lack behind on health. The post-2015 development agenda offers a unique op-portunity for indigenous peoples to address what they see as key concerns and priorities. The paper is intended as a discussion paper for stakeholders in the post-2015 process and reflects on the current situation of indigenous people and health-related issues and includes a number of recommendations aime...

Inequality is a defining characteristic of indigenous peoples’ living conditions and permeates all aspects of their lives. The post-2015 development framework and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer an opportunity to address and minimize the inequalities faced by indigenous peoples today. This note has been prepared by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) in col...

If indigenous peoples are to enjoy their universal right to education, there are a number of constraints and concerns that need to be addressed. The post-2015 development agenda offers a unique opportunity for indigenous peoples to address what they see as key priorities and the way forward for education beyond 2015. This briefing note has been prepared by the International Work Group for Indigeno...

Indigenous peoples face severe human rights violations and exploitation of their natural resources due to energy production. The post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a unique opportunity to address unsustainable energy development on indigenous peoples’ lands and territories. Prepared by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) in col...