INDIGENOUS PEOPLE CONFER AT UN ON RACISM, VICTIMIZATION OF CHILDREN DURING CONFLICT

Press Release

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE CONFER AT UN ON RACISM, VICTIMIZATION OF CHILDREN DURING CONFLICT

Hundreds of indigenous people from around the globe are gathering today and tomorrow at United Nations Headquarters to observe the International Day for the World’s Indigenous People. Following the traditional ceremony with the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe -– which is a prayer for world peace -– there is a dialogue on indigenous children and youth. Tomorrow, 10 August, the participants will consult on their contribution to the upcoming World Conference against Racism, scheduled to take place in 2001 in South Africa.

Ceremonial events take place on the Public Plaza beginning at 11:30 a.m. Tonya Gonnella Frichner of the American Indian Law Alliance will extend a traditional welcome, and messages from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson will be read. As in past years, Chief Arvol Looking Horse (Lakota), nineteenth generation keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, will perform the traditional sacred pipe ceremony. There will also be musical performances, and children will receive a traditional blessing. The Spirit Runners -- nine young people who have just completed a run across North America to promote race relations and world peace -- will be formally welcomed.

A Dialogue on Indigenous Children and Youth is in Conference Room 1 from 3 to 6 this afternoon. Issues such as educational and health needs and dangers posed by war and civil conflicts will be addressed by Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict; Evans Dwayne Eagle Child, of the Kainaiwa Nation, from Alberta, Canada; René Godinez García (Guatemala) of the Movimiento de Jóvenes Mayas por la Objección de Conciencia/CONAVIGUA; Kul Gautam, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); and Bacre Waly Ndiaye, Director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Preparatory Consultation for the World Conference against Racism will meet in Conference Room 1 on Thursday, 10 August, at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m. After an opening plenary chaired by Esmeralda Brown, Chairperson of the NGP Committee on the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, the participants will form smaller discussion groups. Facilitators for the group discussions will include Wilton Littlechild, of the International Organization of Indigenous Resources Development; Alberto Saldamando of the International Indian Treaty Council; and Tonya Gonnella Frichner.

- 2 - Note No. 5622 9 August 2000

The dialogue session on indigenous children and youth and the preparatory consultation for the World Conference against Racism are open only to registered participants and the press.

The United Nations General Assembly called for the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People to be observed each year through the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (1995-2004).

The establishment of a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues –- one of the main objectives of the International Decade -– was agreed on 28 July 2000 by the Economic and Social Council (document E/CN.4/RES/2000/87).

In the event of rain, the ceremonial event will be moved to the Zeus area in the Public Lobby.

For further details of events, contact Ellen McGuffie, Department of Public Information, telephone: (212) 963-0499; e-mail: .

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