International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

INTERNATIONAL Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (IDWIP) was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in December, 1994, to mark the day the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights met for the first time in 1982.

The UN notes that there are today around 370 million Indigenous People (IP) in the world, living in 90 countries, making up less than 5 percent of the world’s population, but accounting for 15 percent of the poorest. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures. The global communities acknowledge that the IPs are the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and recognize the need to take action to protect their rights and maintain their social, political, economic, and cultural characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.

The theme of this year’s IDWIP, which is “Indigenous People’s Migration and Movement,” focuses on the current situation of indigenous territories, the root causes of migration, trans-border movement and displacement, with a specific focus on indigenous peoples living in urban areas and across international borders. It looks into the challenges and explores ways to revitalize the IPs’ identities and encourage the protection of their rights in or outside their traditional territories. Development and other pressures have caused the IPS to lose their lands, territories and resources, and pushed many IPs to migrate to urban areas in search of better opportunities, education, and employment. There are those who migrate to other countries to escape conflict, persecution and the impact of climate change on their livelihood, in particular.

Last year’s celebration of IDWIP marked the 10th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration is the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of IPs. It embodies global consensus on the rights of IPs and establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for their survival, dignity, and well-being. It elaborates on existing human rights standards and fundamental freedoms, as they apply to the specific situation of IPs.

Despite some major successes in the implementation of the declaration on the national, regional, and international levels over the last decade, much remains to be done to achieve the formal recognition of indigenous peoples. As we mark this year’s IDWIP, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has put across several key messages to enjoin member states to, develop policies/agreements/binational plans that would safeguard the IPs’ right to self-determination; enable misplaced or migrated IPs to maintain their link to their indigeneity; protect IPs from all acts of violence perpetrated in societies where they live; establish indigenous peoples’ centers in urban areas to address the IPs’ needs and provide assistance, including support mechanisms that will allow involuntarily displaced indigenous peoples to return to their original communities; and enable all IPs to live with the dignity of a human person fully enjoying their basic rights.