UNITED NATIONS TO OBSERVE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WORLD'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, 7-8 AUGUST
Press Release
UNITED NATIONS TO OBSERVE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WORLD'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, 7-8 AUGUST
19970804 The International Day of the World's Indigenous People (9 August) will be marked at United Nations Headquarters on Thursday, 7 August by a "sacred pipe" ceremony and songs and dances honouring indigenous people of the world. The ceremony will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Visitors Entrance Plaza.Indigenous leaders and elders from around the world will gather for the commemoration, which will open with Secretary-General Kofi Annan's message for the International Day. Roberto Mucaro Borrero (Taino), Caribbean Indigenous Representative, and Vice-Chairperson of the NGO Committee for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, will be the Master of Ceremonies.
The Sacred Pipe Ceremony will be led by Arvol Looking Horse, Nineteenth Generation Keeper of the Sacred Pipe of the Lakota of the United States.
Nana Osei Boakye Yiadom II, Chief from Aburi-Akuapem, Ghana, will bless the children attending the ceremony.
Performances by Kinding Sindow of the Philippines and by Inca Samai of the Andes will follow, and a round dance led by the drums of La Starza Four Horns of North America will close the first part of the day.
During the afternoon of 7 August, a panel discussion on land and natural resources will be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Conference Room 4. The panel, moderated by the Centre for Human Rights, will include representatives from indigenous organizations and from United Nations agencies. Presentations will be made by Angel Gende, Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador; Tony Gonzalez, International Indian Treaty Council; Dalee Sanbo Dorough (Inuit), Indian Law Resource Center; Thierry Lemaresquier, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and Aiko Bode, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, 8 August, there will be an interactive briefing session for indigenous people in Conference Room 4 by the following United Nations organizations: UNDP, UNEP, International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
- 2 - Note No. 5427 4 August 1997
The International Day of the World's Indigenous People, first observed in 1995, was proclaimed by the General Assembly on 23 December 1994. The date of 9 August marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the Working Group of Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights. Its commemoration offers the world community an opportunity to reiterate the principles of respect for human rights enshrined in the Charter and to find solutions to alleviate the plight of indigenous people.
In 1993, the General Assembly proclaimed the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004). The Decade constitutes a time-frame for the United Nations system, Governments, non-governmental organizations and others to commit themselves to the promotion and protection of the human rights of indigenous people, as well as give priority to the new role of indigenous people as decision makers and beneficiaries of national, regional and international activities.
The event has been organized by the New York office of the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, the Committee for the International Day of the World's Indigenous People and the United Nations Department of Public Information.
* *** *