Human Rights Based Approach to Development as experienced in ten Indigenous communities in the Philippines

In the Philippines, diversity within commonality among indigenous peoples is in itself a very complicated situation. Moreover, indigenous peoples understand their rights enshrined in laws more as violations than enjoyment, while local State authorities find difficulty in bridging the gap of addressing the development aspirations of the indigenous peoples with that of “national unity and development”.

This publication sums up the experiences and lessons learnt from strengthening the capacity of indigenous peoples in using the human rights based framework in asserting the right to development as it has been implemented in ten indigenous communities in the Philippines (Cordillera, Mindoro, Mindanao).

The first section of the publication presents the lessons drawn on the human rights based approach to development as envisioned and experienced by indigenous peoples in the project areas.

The second part deals with the perspectives and experiences of local government authorities in the governance of their constituencies of indigenous peoples.

The project was carried out from 2010 to 2015. It was implemented by the Cordillera Indigenous Peoples' Legal Center - DINTEG, and funded by the European Union with co-funding from IWGIA.