INDIGENOUS WOMEN AGENTS OF CHANGE, CONTRIBUTORS TO DEVELOPMENT, PERMANENT FORUM TOLD DURING DEBATE ON CULTURE, HUMAN RIGHTS

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues                       

Third Session                                              

7^th & 8^th Meetings (AM & PM)

INDIGENOUS WOMEN AGENTS OF CHANGE, CONTRIBUTORS TO DEVELOPMENT,

PERMANENT FORUM TOLD DURING DEBATE ON CULTURE, HUMAN RIGHTS

Indigenous women should not be viewed merely as victims of the myriad challenges they faced but as agents of change and contributors to development at all levels, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was told today, as it concluded its consideration of culture and took up human rights.

Addressing the Forum this morning, Carolyn Hannan, Director of the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, urged that concerted efforts be made to involve and support indigenous women in policy formulation and decision-making processes, to ensure their equal access to resources and to facilitate their contribution to their development of their communities and nations.  Among remaining challenges was the gap between existing human rights legislation and the de facto situations confronting indigenous peoples.

The Forum also heard about specific situations in which indigenous groups had taken a stand to defend their culture and rights in the face of the efforts of dominant societies to subjugate them.  For example, the Governments of Mexico and the United States had used their laws and the threat of force to prevent members of indigenous nations of the Sonoran desert from freely crossing international boundaries to visit traditional territories.

To address such infringement, the Forum was urged to recommend that States recognize customary indigenous law or give it consideration in national legislation.  It was also suggested that indigenous peoples themselves consider aligning their laws with international human rights standards.

However, not even the United Nations was free from discrimination against indigenous peoples, a representative of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation pointed out.  Although the United States Government had recognized the autonomy of her nation, she had had to declare herself the representative of a non-governmental organization when applying for her grounds pass, as the United Nations failed to provide for the category of sovereign indigenous nations.

Also addressing the Forum today was Adriana Herrera, Focal Point on Indigenous Issues of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who described her organization’s activities with indigenous peoples, including in the realms of food security, biodiversity and genetic resources.

At the close of the afternoon session, Forum member Stella Tamang and Forum Chairperson Ole Henrik Magga presented certificates of recognition to those delegates that had participated in a two-day training programme on issues affecting indigenous women.

The Permanent Forum will reconvene at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 14 May, to continue its consideration of human rights.

Background

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues met today to continue its discussion of culture.  (For background information on the Forum’s third session, see Press Release HR/4741 of 4 May.)

Discussion

A representative of the Pacific Caucus called on States to review their legislation and policies to ensure that they respected the indigenous right to and use of land.  They should also ensure that sacred areas were adequately protected in accordance with indigenous values; that indigenous peoples had the proper means for learning, literacy and media programmes; and that they could revive and develop their languages, which had been impaired through colonization.  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) should develop programmes to assist indigenous peoples in reinstating their cultures, and support centres for indigenous education.

Guatemala’s delegate recommended that States create and implement public policies to eliminate the discrimination of indigenous peoples and women.  They should also use indigenous languages in public services and law enforcement, and ensure that private economic policies did not affect the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples.  Regional summits of indigenous women should be held to examine tourism and its impact on indigenous peoples, with the aim of creating tourism policies respecting indigenous rights.

A representative of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said the region’s development strategy must be reoriented to reduce social inequalities.  The equitable development of indigenous peoples had become a regional priority, forming part of an overall objective to decrease poverty and to allow ethnic groups to fully enter society and access citizenship.

Other speakers stressed the importance of customary law and human rights for indigenous women.  A representative from Viet Nam noted that her Government had pursued policies to strengthen national unity and improve the lives of all social strata, with special attention paid to the spiritual lives of ethnic minorities.  To that end, it had also adopted a socio-economic programme aimed at improving the living standards of ethnic minorities in remote areas.

CAROLYN HANNAN, Director of the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, said that while concerted efforts had been made within the United Nations system to bring greater attention to the situation of indigenous women – including through the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, the General Assembly’s twenty-third special session, the Commission on the Status of Women and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women -- the need for a more systematic approach to identifying and addressing gender perspectives in policies and programmes on indigenous issues remained.  Thus, as the Permanent Forum strengthened its focus on indigenous women, it would be important to recognize that indigenous women continued to face challenges related to the impact of armed conflict, poverty, violence, marginalization and discrimination, particularly regarding access to health care, education, employment, ownership of land and management of natural resources.

However, indigenous women and girls should not be seen solely as victims, she added.  They were also major actors, agents of change and contributors to development at all levels.  Concerted efforts should be made to involve and support them in policy formulation and decision-making processes, to ensure their equal access to resources and to facilitate their contribution to social, cultural, economic and political development of their communities and nations.  Among areas for further reflection and action were the gap between existing human rights legislation and the de facto situations confronting indigenous peoples; the capacity of collective rights to coexist with individual rights; and the challenge of mainstreaming attention to the priorities and concerns of indigenous women and girls in all work on indigenous issues.  Indigenous women and girls must be given explicit attention in all work related to land rights and access to and control over resources such as forests and water; to education, health, employment and youth and children; and to the protection and promotion of human rights and increased representation and participation.

ADRIANA HERRERA, Focal Point on Indigenous Issues of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said the FAO had instituted several programmes to work with indigenous peoples, including in the realms of food security and indigenous peoples, biodiversity and genetic resources.  In the context of food security, those activities addressed issues related to nutrition and household security, food insecurity and vulnerability profiling, and processing and storage.  Activities on indigenous peoples, biodiversity and genetic resources, focused on standard setting and the establishment of an inter-agency initiative aimed at global recognition of conservation and sustainable management of agricultural heritage systems.  Furthermore, the topic of “Agricultural Biodiversity for Food Security” had been chosen as the topic of World Food Day 2004, in which context indigenous people had much to contribute.  She also touched on indigenous peoples’ participation in FAO meetings and the outcomes of a December 2003 FAO seminar on indigenous peoples in food and agriculture.

Commenting on the FAO presentation, one Forum member acknowledged the importance of the FAO’s work on land and resource use, biodiversity and genetic resources, and gender issues, as well as its work in the standard setting process regarding food security and genetic resources.  More information was requested on the issue of forestry and indigenous peoples, and the appropriateness of developing a legal framework thereon was also noted.  Also, noting the FAO’s work to develop voluntary guidelines on food related issues, including access to and control over natural resources and indigenous knowledge, he requested additional information on how to strengthen the participation of indigenous peoples in that process.

Another Forum member said that, while the right to food was a fundamental right of indigenous populations, many went to sleep each night with empty stomachs.  What could the FAO do to create access for people in such situations to the information, training and resources of the FAO and other organizations?

Other comments addressed issues such as the distribution of inappropriate foodstuffs, including artificial food products, and whether or not a dialogue existed between industrial production aimed at combating hunger and traditional agricultural methods, given the reluctance of some groups to accept the foodstuffs provided by international agencies.

Responding, Ms. HERRERA said that many of the international agencies working with agriculture were making efforts to recuperate traditional knowledge and agricultural methods.  The FAO’s own programme on global heritage agricultural systems had made attempts to use new media forms to integrate education on those systems for the transference of knowledge.  Traditional knowledge and methods constituted an important aspect of the FAO’s work today.  There were many programmes aimed at conserving such knowledge presently under way.

Several speakers recommended that the Economic and Social Council urge States to recognize indigenous languages and use them in public offices, informal education centres and the mass media.  In addition, States should increase their efforts to protect and preserve archaeological and sacred sites with the full participation of indigenous peoples; respect indigenous law enforcement; and evaluate national compliance with recommendations that had been submitted by the Forum.

One participant stressed the need for constitutional protection of indigenous culture, and recommended that government policies to absorb ethnic groups, especially in Africa, be stopped.  Such practices, which destroyed cultural identities, must be replaced with democratic policies that considered the rights of indigenous peoples.

Other participants recommended that the Forum urge States to recognize customary law, or consider indigenous laws in national legislation, and that indigenous peoples consider aligning their laws with international human rights standards.  Also, the Forum should increase awareness of the use of indigenous languages in education by making relevant research available on its Web site; as well as advocate for increased efforts to prevent the loss of indigenous language by United Nations agencies, indigenous peoples and government institutions.  In addition, the Forum should join with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in drawing up indicators for the implementation of the Millennium Goals, and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the United Nations Forum on Forests, as it related to indigenous peoples.

As the Permanent Forum continued its consideration of culture during its afternoon session, the representative of the Intercontinental Network of Indigenous Women said it was important to note that, disconnected from their historical cultures and land base, indigenous women migrants were vulnerable to discrimination and pressured to adopt generic Latin American ethnic identities.  Many indigenous migrants living within the United States were unable to reconnect with their cultural identities, which were, thus, lost within the first generation.

Other representatives also lamented the loss of cultural and historic rights, including the representative of First Nations North and South, who declared that the Governments of the United States and Mexico had used their laws and the threat of force to prevent members of indigenous nations from crossing international boundaries freely to visit traditional territories.  Those Governments had also violated the traditional sanctity of bundles used in spiritual ceremonies by inspecting them and there were plans for Mexican universities to excavate sacred burial grounds.

Another speaker chided the United Nations for failing to recognize sovereign indigenous nations.  The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, she said, had paid a high price historically to maintain its autonomy, but had finally been recognized by the Government of the United States.  However, when applying for her grounds pass at the United Nations, she had been forced to declare herself a representative of a non-governmental organization.  The United Nations should recognize sovereign indigenous nations and their governmental status.

The representative of Armenian Sisters said she wished to thank Nelson Mandela for having refused the Ataturk Peace Prize because of the genocide perpetrated by Turkey against the Turkish Armenian population.

A representative of the Gambella Development Agency lamented the violence in her country, Ethiopia, noting that children in the Gambella region were living in fear, and suffering from lack of food, clean water and medical care.  Some 95 per cent were not attending school, 51 per cent had witnessed the brutal massacre of a parent or close relative, and several had been taken as sexual slaves of the military.  She urged the Forum to exert its influence in assisting the indigenous peoples of Ethiopia, who were being robbed of its children and future.

Several speakers addressed the problem of the migration of indigenous peoples, and the gradual disappearance of entire cultures.  One participant noted that more than 300,000 Mexican indigenous peoples were living in New York City.  Those left behind were trying to develop and preserve educational material for future generations.  She hoped the Forum would pay special attention to the problems arising from such displacement.

Discussion on Human Rights

A Forum member said that, among other things, human rights was about women controlling their own heritage -– be it economic, social or cultural -- not just carrying out their traditional obligations.  Indigenous women continued to be one of the most marginalized groups in the world, and the victims of discrimination and gross human rights violations.  Special attention must be paid to customary laws, he added, especially those that respected human rights.

The representative of Indonesia said the advancement and empowerment of women had become a national priority in his country.  For the first time, empowerment programmes were an integral part of the national development plan.  The Government planned to mainstream gender equality at all levels, and enhance women’s participation in decision-making processes.  Many discriminatory and gender-based pieces of legislation still existed, and were currently being reviewed.

A representative of the Indigenous People of Africa Coordinating Committee highlighted several human rights abuses in Kenya, including rapes, torture, and the lack of involvement in decision-making.  She recommended resource mobilization in order to amend several laws on land and intellectual property rights; that international conventions dealing with the human rights of women be ratified; the decentralization of United Nations agencies to local communities; and resource mobilization and capacity-building for women.

Indigenous groups from Canada pointed to the country’s Indian Act -– which contained provisions on all aspects of aboriginal social life -- as a destructive tool used by the Government, that had resulted in the alienation of aboriginal women from their families and communities.  They were placed in social positions with fewer fundamental rights than aboriginal men, were still suffering discrimination based on definitions of their Indian status, and lacked rights that other non-aboriginal Canadians enjoyed, including property rights.  The Act must be amended to address those wrongs, and a complaint mechanism for women should be put in place.

They also recommended that States be urged to respect the right to citizenship and their own aboriginal passport; that an investigation be carried out on State violation of fundamental human rights; that States implement the Forum’s second session recommendation on the impact of conflict on aboriginal children; and that their sovereignty be respected by Canada and other nations of the international community.

As speakers drew attention to the specific situations of indigenous groups worldwide, the representative of the Caribbean Antilles Indigenous Peoples Caucus protested against the linking of the Caribbean Antilles region with continental Latin America, as the two regions had divergent interests.  The Caribbean Antilles had the territorial right to be recognized as a separate geographical region.

An indigenous representative from Latin America said that policies such as family planning ran contrary to indigenous peoples’ interests and were aimed at carrying out birth control and genocide against indigenous peoples.  Official attempts to seize control of indigenous land and resources left indigenous women without employment and forced them to emigrate to urban areas, where they were cut off from their cultures and vulnerable to discrimination and violence.

The representative of the World Hmong Peoples Congress said that in the past year, many Hmong people had been horrifically murdered by the Lao Government in a hidden killing zone in the country.  As a member of the United Nations, the Lao Government should be held in violation of international law and viewed as a threat to international peace and security by the Security Council.

Offering an example of good practices, a delegate from Venezuela said the indigenous people of that country had acquired the right to political participation on the basis of indigenous groups and not political parties.  Among the benefits that political participation had brought was securing the right of indigenous peoples to carry national identity cards.  The Venezuelan experience demonstrated the need for identity cards to be issued to all indigenous peoples, identifying them as citizens and members of indigenous populations, and for recognition of the right of indigenous peoples to participate in politics on the basis of their indigenous affiliations.

An indigenous representative from Burundi said that Batwa women continued to suffer from poverty and lack of access to health-care services and education, as well as no rights to own land.  Non-governmental organizations were urged to train Batwa women and girls to know their rights and to assist in capacity-building for indigenous women.

Other representatives called for the immediate adoption of the draft declaration on the human rights of indigenous peoples and the declaration of a second International Decade for Indigenous Peoples.

Various participants called on States to halt discriminatory practices against indigenous peoples, establish an independent body to arbitrate disputes between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, and increase monitoring of State compliance with international non-discrimination instruments.  Others recommended that the Commission on Human Rights pay more heed to the rights of indigenous women, and that the International Labour Organization (ILO), governments and United Nations agencies organize technical cooperation with indigenous groups.

A representative of the Peace Campaign Group said that security forces in Bangladesh had violated human rights by killing indigenous peoples and displacing hundreds of thousands from their homes.  Once peace arrived, the forces had failed to remove military camps and suspend military rule in certain areas.  Military personnel had continued to massacre, torture, arbitrarily detain, rape and loot the homes of indigenous peoples.

Next, a member of the Feminist Alliance for International Action described a report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Canada.  The report placed Canada in contravention of its obligations under the women’s anti-discrimination Convention as they related to the treatment of aboriginal women.  The Committee had asked Canada to issue a separate report on aboriginal women for its next review, and expressed concern over the ongoing discrimination of aboriginal women’s property rights, the lack of participation by aboriginal women in indigenous governance negotiations, and the lack of funding for aboriginal women’s organizations to participate in those negotiations.  She asked the Forum to support the Committee’s recommendations and urged Canada to immediately implement them.

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