Congress seeks SDNU’s help in co-hosting WIP 2024
KUCHING: The Dayak National Congress (DNC) is seeking collaboration with Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) in co-hosting the International Day for World Indigenous Peoples (WIP) here, this Aug 9.
DNC president Richard Lias said being an umbrella body for Dayak associations in Malaysia, SDNU should play the leading role.
He said the DNC, on the other hand, had been tasked by the Borneo Dayak Forum (BDF) – an informal grouping of indigenous people’s civil society organisations (CSOs) in Borneo – with hosting the WIP this year.
The appointment was announced during a BDF meeting in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah last year, he added.
“To exploit this potential to the fullest, it’s best that all indigenous people in Sarawak be involved. Thus, being the mother of Dayakbased civil societies in Sarawak, SDNU should be in the leading role.
“With DNC having the network, it is our desire that SDNU would team up with DNC in becoming the co-host. This is one avenue where the CSOs can play a role towards indigenous people’s unity in diversity and prosperity, the key to their sustainability, and a challenge to bridge their social, religious and political boundaries in Sarawak in particular,” said Richard in a statement, adding that SDNU president Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom had, in principle, agreed to the proposal.
“In a formal meeting with Tan Sri (Mawan) at his office, he was enthusiastic in coming and working together in co-hosting this World Indigenous Peoples Day on Aug 9, 2024, in Sarawak, with indication that he (Mawan) will soon convene a meeting with his supreme executive committee to discuss this matter.
“The hosting of this event would also be a platform for the beginning of indigenous people CSOs’ collaboration in the best possible manner for their best interest in Sarawak.
“The CSOs are to show the way. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
“In Sarawak, the WIP can be made much grander and be given more prominence as a high impact event with far-reaching effect and implications, and not just confined to the net-scope of BDF.
“The celebration can be stretched to two to three days, to include forums or seminars, among other programmes, to be participated by the indigenous communities from Kalimantan, Sabah, and Brunei.
“The invitation can even be extended to beyond shores of Borneo,” said Richard.
He also said the high impact from this event would be ‘an eye-opener and a wake-up call’ for the indigenous communities, as a whole, to really look into and understand their well-being and identities not just in the context of sustainability, but also in the context of progressiveness.
“They have to be in the present to understand the importance and impact of development, which has to be done holistically as an industry,” he pointed out.
According to Richard, regional development entails the development for the rural communities.
“An unbalanced or non-holistic development will defy sustainable development, a vocabulary of today’s world,” he added.