Implementation of Recommendations on Development, Environment, Consent to Be Focus

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to Review Progress, at Headquarters 16-27 May

Economic and Social Council Background Release

13 May 2011

More than 1,300 delegates are expected to attend the tenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at Headquarters in New York from 16 to 27 May. This year’s Permanent Forum will be especially significant, since it is a review year, which will focus on the implementation of Forum recommendations on economic and social development, the environment and free, prior and informed consent.

At its previous nine sessions, the Permanent Forum made 131 recommendations related to economic and social development, 127 on the environment and 35 related to free, prior and informed consent. The Forum has received appraisals on the implementation of about half of these recommendations.

The Permanent Forum will engage with Member States, United Nations agencies and civil society. Delegates will include the United Nations, intergovernmental organizations, Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations, non-governmental organizations and academia.

During the second week of the session, the Permanent Forum will hold an in-depth dialogue with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to obtain a better understanding of its functions, and also to consider some of the challenges and opportunities faced by United Nations agencies in discharging their mandates, especially those related to indigenous peoples. The dialogue will include brief presentations from senior UNICEF officials, as well as regional coordinators.

The special regional focus of the Permanent Forum is on indigenous peoples of the Central and South America and the Caribbean region. Other special features include a discussion on the Permanent Forum’s mission to Colombia, a half-day discussion on the right to water and indigenous peoples and discussions on studies completed this year by the Forum (during the second week of the session).

The Permanent Forum expects some 30 United Nations and other inter-governmental organizations and about 60 Governments to participate. The Secretary-General, the President of the Economic and Social Council, and the Under-Secretary for Economic and Social Affairs will attend the opening of the session.

Human Rights

The Forum has invited the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to have a dialogue during the first week. Members of Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Chairperson of the Forum will also participate.

Other highlights of the session include discussion on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, during the second week of the session; discussion on the Rio+20 Conference, again during the second week of the session; and follow-up recommendations and action on the various studies that will be presented during the Forum.

Cultural Exhibition on Indigenous Peoples and Water

During the Permanent Forum session, there will be an indigenous exhibition at the United Nations, which aims to present the ways in which water is tied to indigenous peoples’ spiritual, cultural, political and economic systems. The exhibition includes photographs from a number of internationally recognized artists, such as Wayne Quilliam, one of Australia’s most respected indigenous photographers. Mr. Quilliam is the first indigenous photographer to be featured at the International Photo Biennale and has created and curated more than 100 exhibitions throughout the world. Other artists whose works will be on display include Ina Hume ( Bangladesh), David Hernandez-Palmar ( Venezuela), Brian Adams ( United States), and Troy Donovan Hunter ( Canada).

For journalists without United Nations press accreditation, please refer to the website of the Media and Accreditation Liaison Unit for details: http://www.un.org/media/accreditation, or call +1 212 963 6934.

For media queries, including interviews with United Nations officials and indigenous representatives, please contact Newton Kanhema in the United Nations Department of Public Information, at tel.: +1 212 963 5602, e-mail: kanhema [at] un [dot] org.

For the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues, please contact Broddi Sigurdarson at tel.: +1 917 367 2106, e-mail: sigurdarson [at] un [dot] org; or Sonia Smallacombe at tel.: +1 917 367 5066, e-mail: smallacombe [at] un [dot] org, in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

For a full schedule of side events, please see www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/Side_events_program_10session_Lat....

For more information on the tenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, please see www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/session_tenth.html.

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Remarks to the opening of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

UN News Service, http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID...

16 May 2011

Thank you Doctor Myrna Cunningham Chairperson,
Under-Secretary-General Sha Zukang,
Distinguished members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
Excellencies,
Indigenous elders,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you today. I am happy to open this tenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. At the onset, Madame Chair, I would like to congratulate you on your election as the chair of the tenth PFII and under your leadership I hope that well beings and rights of indigenous peoples will be fully guaranteed. And as Secretary-General, you can count on me.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A warm welcome to all the indigenous representatives from around the world. You have traveled long distances, physically but also in the struggle to achieve your rights.

Welcome also to the new members of the Forum. I look forward to working closely with you.

This is the Forum’s tenth anniversary.

Ten years of fighting against decades of marginalization.

Ten years of uniting different cultures to reach shared goals.

Ten years of pushing for indigenous rights.

The road has been tough, but the rewards are real.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples finally has the consensus it deserves.

Now we need to make the Declaration’s principles a reality.

To those who do not grasp the Declaration’s importance, I say: protecting and promoting the rights of indigenous peoples benefits us all.

We see examples around the world.

In Peru, indigenous communities are responding to climate change by re-introducing native varieties of potatoes. They have support from a United Nations-backed fund benefiting poor farmers. Now they are helping conserve the earth’s biodiversity.

We know that indigenous peoples have a close spiritual relationship with nature. Now we have to make the connection between their knowledge – your knowledge – and our world.

Indigenous peoples have been living in a “green economy” for centuries. When economists today look for new ways to achieve sustainable development, they should look at old practices in indigenous communities.

Ancient indigenous traditions can help overcome modern problems.

The goal is not to appropriate your knowledge, to extract it or exploit it, but to respect indigenous peoples and help preserve their traditions.

There is an indigenous saying that, “When an elder dies, it is like a light burning out.”

This is a beautiful expression of respect for the wisdom of age.

But it could also be a warning. We could just as easily say that, “When an indigenous custom dies, it is like a light burning out.”

If that is true, our world is growing darker.

Today, one indigenous language dies every two weeks.

Indigenous cultures are threatened with extinction.

Millions of indigenous peoples continue to lose their lands, their rights and their resources. They make up one-third of the world’s one billion rural poor. And they are among the most vulnerable and marginalized of any group.

Indigenous women, who are the custodians of so much rich heritage, often suffer the most.

We do not have enough studies of the problems, but the studies we do have show appalling gaps.

Indigenous peoples do not live as long as others. They suffer higher rates of diseases like diabetes and tuberculosis. Their children are less likely to survive past the age of five. Their communities are less likely to thrive.

This Forum can play a dynamic role in changing this deplorable situation and helping indigenous peoples around the world achieve the self-determination they deserve.

Your success can build momentum toward the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples planned for 2014. You can identify ways to bring to life the principles enshrined in the Declaration.

And you can shape other important events on the international agenda.

Two decades ago in Rio, indigenous peoples were active at the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development. Maybe some of you were there. We need you now even more with the Rio+20 Conference coming up next year.

From the forests to the oceans, from the mountains to the deserts, around our world you are guardians of nature. We need you to help influence the decisions we make today on energy and the environment, decisions which will affect generations to come.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Earlier this year in Guatemala, I met with Rigoberta Menchu. I remember when she won the Nobel Prize in 1992. Just before they made the announcement, people kept asking her, “What if you win? What if you lose?” Here was her answer. She said, “With the Nobel Prize, there are no losers or winners. There is a chance to hear about the struggle of people who are oppressed, a chance to be heard, and we hope that this chance never ends.”

We must end the oppression, and we must ensure that indigenous peoples are always heard. Raise your voices here at this Forum and beyond. I will urge the world to listen to your voices.

Thank you very much.

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Implementation of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Tenth session

Agenda Item 4(a): Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Speaker: National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo

New York, 16-27 May 2011

Joint Statement of Assembly of First Nations, Chiefs of Ontario, First Nations Summit, Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), Haudenosaunee of Kanehsatà:ke, Indigenous World Association, International Organization of Indigenous Resource Development (IOIRD), Louis Bull Cree Nation, Montana Cree Nation, Native Women’s Association of Canada, National Association of Friendship Centres, Samson Cree Nation, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Amnesty International, First Peoples Human Rights Coalition, Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), Amnistie Internationale Canada, Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

As a consensus international human rights instrument, the realization of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is crucial to the survival, dignity and well-being of Indigenous peoples worldwide. UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, concluded in his August 2010 report to the UN General Assembly (A/65/264):

Implementation of the Declaration should be regarded as a political, moral and legal imperative without qualification, within the framework of the human rights objectives of the Charter of the United Nations.

Our organizations strongly agree. In view of the rampant and persistent human rights violations globally, the full and effective implementation of the Declaration is urgently needed.

We welcome the fact that the Declaration is being used by UN treaty bodies to interpret Indigenous peoples’ rights and related state obligations under international treaties. Use of the Declaration is also being made by UN specialized agencies and the Human Rights Council’s special rapporteurs and independent experts. The Declaration is increasingly being relied upon by domestic human rights commissions and courts.

Some States, such as Canada and the United States, are dishonouring their endorsements of the Declaration at home and abroad. They are interpreting UNDRIP in a manner that contradicts its terms and adversely affects Indigenous peoples worldwide. They are reneging on their international obligations to respect, protect and fulfil Indigenous peoples’ human rights.

We recommend the following measures to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) as a means to promote and systematize the implementation of the Declaration at the national, regional and international levels. These recommendations include that the PFII:

1. Recommend that the Human Rights Council (HRC) authorize the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) to conduct an annual review on the manner in which UNDRIP is being interpreted and implemented at all levels (EMRIP, 26 August 2010 Report to the HRC (A/HRC/15/36), Proposals 4 and 5).

2. Create a searchable database of specific measures, including best practices, taken to implement the Declaration (as proposed by the North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus).

3. Make recommendations regarding states that undermine UNDRIP, domestically or internationally, through actions that run counter to its provisions.

4. Urge states, in conjunction with Indigenous peoples, to establish national plans of work to implement the Declaration with clear timelines and priorities. States should report regularly on the progress and shortcomings in implementing UNDRIP to their national legislatures and to the PFII.

5. Urge states, in conjunction with Indigenous peoples, to undertake a review of existing laws and policies to ensure compliance with UNDRIP (as called for in the UN Special Rapporteur’s Interim Report of 9 August 2010).

6. Urge states to uphold the international human rights standards in UNDRIP so as to ensure full respect and implementation of all Indigenous peoples’ rights, including those in Treaties with such peoples.

7. Urge all levels of government and all multilateral agencies to ensure that all relevant staff are familiar with the Declaration and provided clear direction and support to uphold its provisions.

8. Urge states, in conjunction with Indigenous peoples, to promote broader public awareness of and human rights education on the Declaration as a principled, universal framework for justice and reconciliation. States must fulfil their international obligations to uphold the human rights of all.

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Brief statement on human rights[1]

Tenth session of the PFII

Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough

19 May 2011

Thank you, Madame Chair. In these remarks I want to emphasize the importance of a human rights-based approach, as strongly recommended by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and diverse UN bodies and mechanisms. This must include the full and effective implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Some governments still do not recognize that IPs’ collective rights are human rights. Yet the Human Rights Council has adopted by consensus resolution 5/1 on 18 June 2007, which makes clear that the “rights of peoples” shall be permanently considered in its Agenda and Framework for the programme of work under Item 3: “Promotion and protection of all human rights …”

Regardless of what issues may arise in any given situation – the human rights of Indigenous peoples are always relevant if such rights are at risk of being undermined. In this regard, it is difficult to remove from or segregate Indigenous human rights for any discussion. As I referenced yesterday, one of the fundamental elements of human rights is that they are indivisible, inter-dependent, and inter-related and are therefore, relevant in any context specifically concerning Indigenous peoples, from environment to development to peace and security and many other issues.

At the international level and in many countries at the national level there has been advancement on the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples. As you are aware, on 13 September 2007 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. At the domestic level some government have adopted legislation incorporating in its national legislation the recognition of indigenous rights. However, implementation of the standards contained in the Declaration remains our biggest challenge.

As you all know, specialized institutions have been created at the international level to specially address the human rights of Indigenous peoples such as the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, our Forum, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples in Geneva.

The work of the United Nations in preparing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples reinforced the need for instruments and processes to accommodate our cultural diversity. Indeed, this was the ultimate objective of the UN Declaration. Such an approach is a necessary element to ensure the effectiveness of universally recognized human rights².

Despite all the positive international human rights standard-setting developments concerning our human rights, indigenous peoples continue to face serious human rights abuses on a day to day basis. Issues of violence and brutality, continuing assimilation policies, marginalization, dispossession of land, forced removal or relocation, denial of land rights, impacts of large-scale development, abuses by military forces and armed conflict, and a host of other abuses, are a reality for indigenous communities around the world. Examples of violence and brutality have been heard from every corner of the indigenous world, most often perpetrated against indigenous persons who are defending their rights and their lands, territories and communities.

In regard to large-scale or major development projects, the Special Rapporteur has summarized some of their effects on the human rights of indigenous peoples by stating that:

The principal human rights effects of these projects for indigenous peoples relate to loss of traditional territories and land, eviction, migration and eventual resettlement, depletion of resources necessary for physical and cultural survival, destruction and pollution of the traditional environment, social and community disorganization, long-term negative health and nutritional impacts as well as, in some cases, harassment and violence³.

Indigenous peoples frequently raise concerns about systemic discrimination and outright racism from the broader society, the State and its authorities. This discrimination manifests itself in a number of ways and I think that it is safe to say that each Indigenous person present has experienced some form of discrimination on an individual and personal level. Furthermore, Indigenous peoples at the community level or collectively have been victims of discriminatory policies and treatment. This is an undeniable fact.

At their most extreme, these forms of discrimination lead to gross violations of human rights, such as murder, rape and other forms of violence or intimidation. These forms of discrimination are often either difficult to quantify and verify or are simply not documented by the authorities or not disaggregated based on Indigenous identity. Among all the members of the society, the situation of indigenous women and children remains particularly delicate.

Many indigenous communities are in extremely difficult situations; many Indigenous peoples and their communities have been destroyed or weakened, their security and integrity compromised. The urgent and dire condition of indigenous peoples’ human rights worldwide requires genuine political will, action, and resources.

The Member States of the United Nations must therefore play a more substantive, proactive and central role in the campaign to respect and recognize indigenous peoples’ human rights. Indigenous peoples arrive here in New York to demand the attention of the United Nations. However, let us remember that the United Nations is made up of the nation-states around the globe – it is imperative that these member nations take their obligations seriously and more importantly, at the domestic level.. I would encourage states to review their constitutions, domestic policies and legislation to ensure consistency with the minimum standards established by the UN Declaration. Furthermore, where national human rights institutions exist such institutions should be informed and guided by the Declaration; where they do not exist, such institutions should be established with the full cooperation and collaboration with the Indigenous peoples concerned. Indigenous peoples should also be encouraged to engage domestic remedies, such as local commissions.

Further, Indigenous peoples should review and invoke international instruments and initiate comprehensive strategies, including the use of the treaty bodies as most, if not all of these treaty bodies, are aware of and responsive to the human rights standards embraced by the Declaration. In this regard, please recall the expansion of the mandate of the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples based in Geneva.

In some instances, Indigenous peoples may have opportunities to negotiate and dialogue with national governments about how to fully and effectively implement the Declaration. In other instances, unfortunately, Indigenous peoples may need to initiate litigation combined with formal human rights complaints at the local, state-wide, regional, national, and international level.

In conclusion, I urge governments to consider what measures they can take in collaboration with Indigenous peoples to ensure that Indigenous peoples, individually and collectively, can in fact exercise and enjoy their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. After all, as the preamble of the UN Declaration “Solemnly proclaims the [following] United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a standard of achievement to be pursued in a spirit of partnership and mutual respect. Let us hope that we do not have to wait generations more for the realization of partnership and respect. In regard to the discussion on human rights today, I’m sure that we will hear more about the status and conditions of Indigenous peoples and the denial of their human rights throughout our afternoon focus on the subject of Indigenous human rights. I would urge participants to specify the articles that relate to their distinct concerns, perspectives, and the status and conditions that they are reporting to us. Thank you, Madame Chair.

Notes:-

[1] Most parts of this briefing note were taken from Chapter VI (Human Rights) of the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The Chapter was written by Prof. Dalee Sambo.

[2] Henkin et al. (1999), 107, quoting Donnelly (1989): “Cultural relativity is an undeniable fact; moral rules and social institutions evidence an astonishing cultural and historical variability. The doctrine of cultural relativism holds that at least some such variations cannot be legitimately criticised by outsiders. But if human rights are literally the rights everyone has simply as a human being, they would seem to be universal by definition. How should the competing claims of cultural relativism and universal human rights be reconciled? I defend an approach that maintains the fundamental universality of human rights while accommodating the historical and cultural particularity of human rights.”

[3] Stavenhagen (2003).

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UN Holds Out Fresh Hope for Indigenous Peoples

By Jaya Ramachandran, IDN-InDepth NewsReport – http://www.pressenza.com/npermalink/un-holds-out-fresh-hope-for-indigeno...

21 May 2011

GENEVA (IDN) – In a landmark step towards lifting more than 370 million indigenous peoples in some 90 countries accounting for 15 per cent of the world’s poor out of extreme poverty, four United Nations entities have launched a new initiative.

The initiative, to be known as the UN Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership (UNIPP), will promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples, aspiring to strengthen their institutions and ability to fully participate in governance and policy processes at the local and national levels.

The importance of the initiative launched May 20, 2011 on the sidelines of the 10th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) — May 16 to 27 — at UN Headquarters in New York, lies in the fact that around the world indigenous children are less likely than other children to be in school and more likely to drop out. Indigenous girls are at even greater risk of being excluded from school.

“UNIPP will help address these problems and other social, economic and political issues by working with governments and indigenous peoples’ organization through various means including training, promotion of dialogue, the establishment of consultative processes, legislative review and reform, as well as conflict prevention,” notes the UN in a media release.

The Partnership draws experience and expertise from the UN International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in an effort to implement the provisions of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Declaration, adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007, affirms in Article 6 that “every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality.”

Article 7 says: “1. Indigenous individuals have the rights to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty and security of person. 2. Indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or any other act of violence, including forcibly removing children of the group to another group.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the initiative and urged all countries to support it “so that it can fulfil its potential to turn the declaration’s principles into reality.” He noted that “indigenous people suffered centuries of oppression, and continue to lose their lands, their languages and their resources at an alarming rate.”

“Despite these obstacles, indigenous people make an enormous contribution to our world, including through their spiritual relationship with the Earth. By helping indigenous peoples regain their rights, we will also protect our shared environment for the benefit of all,” Ban added.

UNIPP will serve as a welcome tool for the UN agencies, which intend to prevent conflict with regard to ancestral land and use of natural resources. Many indigenous communities have witnessed the exploitation of those lands and resources by extractive industries — in many cases without regard to their rights.

BRUTAL VIOLATIONS

Explaining the present situation, UNPFII member Dalee Sambo Dorough says the nation Member States of the United Nations have the responsibility to uphold the human rights principles outlined in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. They have “the initial obligation to begin to adopt policies and legislation… to maintain consistence with the human rights standards that are embraced in the declaration.”

She said at a press conference on May 18 that the direct and often brutal violations of the basic rights of indigenous people in every region of the world continue, even in areas where success had been achieved, such as in Canada where an agreement over land use between the aboriginal communities in Nunavut has faced implementation hitches.

“The reality of the UN declaration is that the rights of indigenous people did not arise out of the goodwill of States,” said Dorough. “Rather, it is because of the entire history of exploitation, colonization, as well as the full range of human rights violations that the indigenous community has pressed the UN to open its doors in order to for us to take our rightful place not only in the context of the human rights pillar of the UN, but also in the environment, as well as the peace and security pillar,” she told reporters.

The UNPFII chairperson Mirna Cunningham said the UNIPP was “an important step in the efforts of indigenous peoples everywhere to fully realize their human rights,” adding: “We look forward to our continued work with the UN so that the voiceless will be heard and that we can bring about dignity and respect for the diversity of our cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations.”

UNPFII member Raja Devashish Roy said that $1.5 million in start-up funds for 2011 and 2012, supplied by the Government of Denmark, would enable UNIPP to work at the country level to promote dialogue and build partnerships.

“This (partnership) will work on the ground,” he said at a press conference to launch UNIPP. “It will take projects and programmes and develop the capacity of Governments and indigenous peoples’ organizations. It will build partnerships at the country level with indigenous peoples in the driver’s seat.” The Partnership would expand on the global endeavours now carried out by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, he added.

Carsten Staur, Permanent Representative of Denmark at the UN, called the Partnership “an innovative global alliance with great potential to advance the rights of indigenous peoples”. It would provide significant outreach efforts in all corners of the world by acting as a platform for the spread of knowledge about indigenous groups throughout the United Nations system, he said.

Ivan Simonovic, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said the Partnership would enable the United Nations system to “act as one” in easing the delivery of services to indigenous peoples and providing financial support.

Cleo Doumbia-Henry, ILO Director for International Labour Standards, said the agency had a long history of working with indigenous peoples, citing ILO Convention No. 169, which was complemented by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “It was right and fitting that a Partnership tries to take the two instruments together,” she said. “This is a unique opportunity to work together. It is just the beginning.”

Convention No.169 is an international instrument ratified by about 20 countries since its adoption in 1989 and dealing specifically with the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. A ratifying country has one year to align its legislation, policies and programmes with the Convention before it becomes legally binding.

Abdel-Rahman Ghandour, UNDP Deputy Director/Acting Director of Communications, said UNIPP would help implement the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and address the recommendations issued by the Permanent Forum over the last few years. The UNDP Group was bringing its experience in coordinating United Nations programmes at the country level, he added.

Asked why the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was not part of the Partnership, Ghandour said UNDP had extensive experience in the environmental field. However, UNIPP actively invited other United Nations agencies and programmes to join. “The more alliances we have from the rest of the UN family, the stronger we will be.”

Replying to the question whether the Partnership would help indigenous peoples’ efforts to protect the intellectual property linked to their natural resources, ILO’s Doumbia-Henry said it would bring together the expertise of all United Nations agencies on that issue, adding that the main challenge would be helping to build indigenous capacity to create the necessary legal instruments and institutions to protect those rights.

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UNPO Members Speak Out At Event On Resource Extraction

http://www.unpo.org/article/12633

Held during the 10th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), this event addressed contentious issues surrounding the development of energy resources in indigenous regions.

17 May 2011

The extraction of global resources has grown more or less steadily over the past 25 years. The expanding population, expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, places increasing demands on food, water, energy and land resources. The effect of the increasing use of these resources on the earth’s climate and environment is a frequent topic of discussion in spaces ranging from the centers of international power to popular media outlets. However, the effect of the development and extraction of valuable resources on the lives of indigenous peoples in many regions of the world is frequently absent from such conversations.

In the context of indigenous populations’ systematic exclusion from political and economic power, how can indigenous people assert their rights? This event, co-hosted by UNPO and Society for Threatened Peoples, highlighted some of the major issues facing indigenous populations in relation to the extraction of natural resources on their lands. It also explored the reasons why actions to oppose such extraction projects are often unsuccessful, and attempted to outline what can be done to hold governments and corporations accountable to international standards of human rights.

Jill K. Carino, Cordillera Peoples Alliance Vice-Chairperson for External Affairs, opened the event by discussing the experience of the indigenous Ibaloi and Kankanaey people of Benguet province, Cordillera Region Philippines with mining and dam projects. Ms. Carino outlined the serious impacts that these projects have had on the land and water of the people.

Karim Abdian, Executive Director of the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization followed by discussing the exploitation of the vast oil resources of Al-Ahwaz (Khuzestan) province by the Iranian regime. Mr. Abdian highlighted the fact that while Ahwazi ancestral lands produce over 4.5 million barrels of oil daily- 90% of total Iranian oil production- indigenous Ahwazi-Arabs live in abject poverty and receive no part of the billions of dollars in annual revenue generated by this resource. He brought to light the systematic political exclusion of the Awazi Arabs and their resulting absence from Iranian governance structures, including those governing the extraction of resources and distribution of benefits.

Hector Huertas of the National Union of Indigenous Lawyers of Panama (Kuna Yala) and Chair of the Indigenous Caucus of the Organization of American States (OAS) provided his perspective on some possible ways forward. Mr. Huertas presented a legal overview of international complaint procedures, focusing particularly on the OAS and UN systems.

Following the main presentations there was time for questions and discussion, leading to a lively exchange about building effective indigenous movements to oppose resource development projects which violate their rights, possible opportunities for advocacy initiatives within the international system and mechanisms for indigenous recourse in cases of past or ongoing harm and rights violations.

• Ms. Azelene Kaingang was also scheduled to take part in the event, presenting the case of indigenous resistance to Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam. However, Brazil blocked this prominent human rights advocate from attending the UNPFII. Ms. Kaingang was expected to address Brazil’s “legal missteps surrounding the hugely controversial hydroelectric project” (Earth Peoples Brazil Bars a Critic from UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues).

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Indigenous Peoples Suffer Disproportionate Violations of Right to Safe Water, Sanitation, Permanent Forum Told

UN News Centre – http://www.galdu.org/web/index.php?odas=5244&giella1=eng

25 May 2011

UNITED NATIONS, New York — With nearly a billion people living without access to an improved water source and 2.5 billion lacking access to improved sanitation facilities, the world faced a “true crisis” the Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Tuesday 24 May, during a half-day discussion on the right to water.

Asking who exactly did not have access and why, Catarina de Albuquerque said it was always the same people — the marginalized, the poor and those without a political voice. In countries with indigenous populations, it too frequently included indigenous peoples. “Like so many other human rights, indigenous peoples suffer disproportionate violations of their rights to safe drinking water and sanitation,” she told the gathering of Member States, indigenous organizations, civil society and local and indigenous Governments.

Acknowledging that the participants in the Forum’s two-week annual session — which is expected to conclude Friday, 27 May — were undoubtedly aware of that reality, she stressed that “such lack of access is not simply an unfortunate situation nor a coincidence, but is a direct result of policies and politics which exclude certain segments of the population”.

Sharing a lesson from her first country visit to Costa Rica after she took up her mandate in 2008, she said she had been dismayed by the lack of attention to improving the situation of that country’s indigenous peoples. With nearly universal access in urban areas and good access in many rural areas, Costa Rica was on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation. However, its focus on that general “positive” trend overlooked the fact that indigenous people living in its two dozen indigenous reserves lacked access to safe drinking water or sanitation services, and specific, targeted and deliberate policies were needed to ensure such access was granted to them.

Noting that the activism of indigenous communities had been crucial in bringing such situations to light, she highlighted the Forum as another avenue for exposing human rights violations and pressuring Governments to ensure that indigenous rights were fully protected. She further encouraged participants to fight for indigenous peoples’ right and to continue to engage with the international human rights system, including through the special procedures system and its network of Special Rapporteurs, of which she was only one part.

“When violations of the right to water are being experienced, sadly, a host of other deprivations and violations are also reported,” she said, suggesting that indigenous communities could go further in using the United Nations mechanisms — including the mandates of the other special rapporteurs, the treaty monitoring bodies and the Universal Periodic Review — to claim their rights.

Among the other three speakers making introductory remarks this morning, Aicha Cheik Salah, of the Tidawt Organization in Niger, highlighted the complexities at the intersection of State approaches to water rights and the understanding of water among indigenous peoples. “How can we legislate a resource that is constantly moving?” she asked, pointing out that ideas of water ownership among the nomadic Toureg and Peulh peoples of the Sahara were based on oral traditions and differed from those of the State. Indeed, those nomadic communities were often confused by the written statements of companies or Governments, she said.

Echoing many speakers throughout the morning debate, she said it was critical that traditional practices be borne in mind in any water policy. She further stressed that water needed to be accessible and free according to the nomadic code, while monitoring the quality and quantity of the water available was also absolutely crucial.

Recalling the debate that surrounded the General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution in 2010 that confirmed the right to water and sanitation, Pablo Solón, Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, stressed that it was irrelevant to talk about “derivative rights” in the case of water, since it was a right on the same level as all other rights. Citing the so-called Cochabamba “water wars” fought in his country in 2000 over proposals for privatizing water, he said “it would be suicide to go down the road of a privatization and mercantilization of water and other resources”. That was particularly true, he suggested, with respect to the “green economy” concept, which was one of themes of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as “ Rio+20”.

In that regard, he was the first of many speakers to call for a new understanding of water and rights, saying that, “at Rio+20, we must begin to speak of the rights that water has”. He further underscored that water had its own laws and life cycle, adding that, paradoxically, water did not belong to anyone, although it belonged to everyone.

During the ensuing discussion, a number of speakers expressed alarm over increasing attacks on water — or what some called “aquacide” — from mega-projects such as dams, extractive industry practices and privatization schemes. This aggression towards water resources threatened indigenous peoples’ existence, several said, noting that water was traded, access was restricted and water sources were blocked.

Against that backdrop, speakers called on the Forum to conduct a study on indigenous peoples and water, including the impact of water resource use for industry. Calls were also made for a full investigation of the possible impacts of the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries ( REDD+ ) and other low-carbon or green economic strategies.

Many speakers emphasized the need to monitor human rights compliance by multinational corporations, requesting the Forum to implement a process to assess, evaluate and, as needed, propose measures for States to monitor corporations carrying out activities that affected the right of indigenous peoples to water. A number of speakers said that approach must specifically address free, prior and informed consent and the treaty right to water. Some also recommended the appointment of a special rapporteur to examine the privatization of water by multinational corporations.

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UN launches first global partnership to advance rights of indigenous peoples

Press release – http://www.unicef.org/media/media_58594.html

20 May 2011

NEW YORK – The first global UN inter-agency initiative to promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples was launched today on the occasion of the 10th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The initiative, called the United Nations-Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership (UNIPP), is a commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and calls for its full realization through the mobilization of financial cooperation and technical assistance.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the initiative and urged all countries “to support this new initiative so that it can fulfill its potential to turn the Declaration’s principles into reality.” He noted that “indigenous people suffered centuries of oppression, and continue to lose their lands, their languages and their resources at an alarming rate.”

“Despite these obstacles” he said, “indigenous people make an enormous contribution to our world, including through their spiritual relationship with the earth. By helping indigenous peoples regain their rights, we will also protect our shared environment for the benefit of all.”

The aim of the UNIPP is to secure the rights of indigenous peoples, strengthen their institutions and ability to fully participate in governance and policy processes at the local and national levels, including conflict prevention in regard to ancestral land and use of natural resources. Many indigenous communities are witness to exploitation of these lands and resources by extractive industries – in many cases without regard to their rights.

The Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum, Mirna Cunninghan, said the partnership was “an important step in the efforts of indigenous peoples everywhere to fully realize their human rights. We look forward to our continued work with the UN so that the voiceless will be heard and that we can bring about dignity and respect for the diversity of our cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations.”

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) and ILO’s Indigenous and Tribal People’s Convention (No. 169) adopted in 1989, are widely recognized as the key international instruments for promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples.

There are more than 370 million indigenous peoples in some 90 countries accounting for 15 percent of the world’s poor and one-third of the 900 million people living in extreme poverty. Indigenous people also tend to experience low levels of education, increased health problems, higher crime rates and human rights abuses.

Globally, indigenous children are less likely than other children to be in school and more likely to drop out of school. Indigenous girls are at even greater risk of being excluded from school. Furthermore, indigenous children often face a lifetime of discrimination and exclusion, deepening their disadvantages and perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

The newly launched UNIPP will help address these problems and other social, economic and political issues by working with governments and indigenous peoples’ organization through various means including training, promotion of dialogue, the establishment of consultative processes, legislative review and reform, as well as conflict prevention.

UNIPP brings together the experience and expertise of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Over generations, indigenous peoples have developed highly specialized knowledge, livelihood strategies, occupations and cultures, which are closely linked to lands, territories and natural resources. In the context of today’s crisis, indigenous knowledge is critical to the search for new solutions, which link human development, human rights, peace and environmental sustainability.

Indigenous peoples are in a unique position to contribute to addressing the most pressing environmental and social challenges of our time. Their partnership is an essential requirement, and something which UNIPP seeks to promote.

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org

For more information, contact:
Janine Kandel, UNICEF New York
Tel: + 1 212 326-7684
jkandel [at] unicef [dot] org

Kevin Cassidy, International Labour Organization (ILO), New York
Tel: +1 646 707-2956
cassidy [at] ilo [dot] org

Carolina Azevedo, UNDP New York
Tel: + 1 212 906 6127
carolina.azevedo [at] undp [dot] org

Ravina Shamdasani
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Geneva
Tel: +41-22-9179310
rshamdasani [at] ohchr [dot] org