Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Sixth Session

12^th Meeting (PM)

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES MUST BE EQUAL PARTNERS IN ALL STAGES OF DATA COLLECTION,

FROM PLANNING THROUGH ANALYSIS, UNITED NATIONS FORUM TOLD

 

Also Address Ways to Ensure Participation

In Second International Decade of World’s Indigenous Peoples (2005-2014)

Indigenous peoples must participate as equal partners in all stages of data collection, including planning, implementation, analysis and dissemination, representatives of tribal and native peoples today told the United Nations Forum charged with defending the rights of the world’s 370 million indigenous people.

Speakers and delegations participating in the work of the sixth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York since last Monday, devoted their discussions this afternoon to two of the Forum’s ongoing priorities: enhancing data collection and disaggregation on indigenous people and issues; and ensuring active worldwide participation in the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (2005-2014).

Speakers noted that challenges to the development of indicators for indigenous peoples’ well-being were closely connected to challenges involved in data collection, research and analysis, and interpretation and dissemination of such data.  Some, concerned that Governments might purposely distort information about native communities to adjust resource allocations, emphasized the importance of developing multiple criteria with active participation of local indigenous peoples to accurately capture the identity of, and socio-economic conditions in, their communities.  Others stressed that data collection concerning indigenous peoples must follow the principle of free, prior and informed consent at all levels, and promote the human rights of indigenous peoples.

Presenting a joint statement of Aboriginal groups from Australia, a speaker said this year marked the fortieth anniversary of his country’s successful referendum to amend its Constitution to legally address the concerns of indigenous peoples.  In other words, despite 40 years to improve the situation, little had been done in the way of enhancing quality of life of Australia’s indigenous peoples.  That fact embodied his concerns about the adequacy of Government data collection: indigenous peoples were not sufficiently involved or consulted in decision-making processes and, thus, had little say on the laws being assessed.

“This situation must be addressed,” he said, adding that the way indigenous Australians had been reflected in the national census had had an adverse impact on their well-being, and had made it difficult to evaluate the effect of policy changes and approaches.  There was a risk, therefore, that bad policies would not be identified in a timely manner.  He added that the Government’s policy of de-funding indigenous-specific programmes in regional centres raised further serious concerns about the collection of disaggregated data.  Without such data, the provision of services –-already patchy, at best -- would be even harder to measure, he said.

Also drawing on national experience, the representative of the Tebtebba Foundation, discussed a recent survey conducted in the northern Philippines that had included gathering household data in various towns in that area.  Disaggregated data could be used to monitor a rights-based approach to addressing indigenous peoples’ concerns, he said, adding that the survey also generated data that gauged peoples’ satisfaction with services delivered by the Government, and that a draft report had subsequently been presented in a workshop attended by Government officials. 

Among other things, that experience had shown that population-disaggregated data collection indeed was possible when conducted at the local level, he said.  It brought to light issues of identity, as some indigenous people identified themselves differently than others described them.  To improve data-collection exercises, he called for advocacy campaigns to ensure that the ethnicity variable was included in national censuses.  Further, pilot studies on data disaggregation should be carried out with concerned Government bodies and guidelines should be established to ensure that data gathering was more culturally sensitive.

When the Forum briefly took up efforts to promote the ongoing objectives of the Second International Decade, most of the speakers agreed that the Second Decade must bring vast improvement to their lives.  They felt that the new Decade was a strengthened call to action for Governments and the United Nations to work with indigenous peoples in priority areas of development, including integrating indigenous perspectives into development processes at all levels and promoting indigenous peoples to participate fully in those processes.

A speaker delivering a joint statement on behalf of the Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network and the Youth Caucus said that the First Decade had been a milestone in the effort to raise awareness about the situation of indigenous people around the world.  Still, indigenous people, particularly youth and women, continued to be marginalized in most countries.

She said the Network hoped the Second Decade would not only promote the welfare of indigenous youth, but would also lead to concrete support for the holding of a global youth conference, which would serve as a forum for discussing critical issues regarding the world’s native and tribal young people.  She called on United Nations agencies and Governments to focus on boosting skill-sharing activities and to support indigenous inclusion and participation in international forums, particularly those considering implementation of the goals of the Second Decade.

Also taking part in the discussion were representatives of the World Bank, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Secretariat on the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity.

Representatives of the following indigenous groups also spoke:  Caribbean Antilles Indigenous Peoples Caucus; Ainu Peoples’ Resource Centre; the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council; Ethiopian World Federation; Public Fund Balkaria; International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, Indigenous Working Group on Indicators; the Africa Caucus; Greater Caribbean Caucus; Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON); Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation and the Montagnard Foundation; Comite Intertribal Parlamento indigena de Pantanal, Central de informacion indigena, Land is Life and Conselho Nacional de Mulheres Indigenas; Himalayan Indigenous Women’s Network; Consejo Indio de Sudamerica; Andean First Nations Council; Zo Reunification Organization (ZORO); Second Generation of Indigenous Irish Youth of Retrieve Foundation; Ethiopian World Forum; Grandmothers of Mother Earth; Habitat Pro; Cabildo Wayuu Nouna Campamento, Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu; Organizacao Protal Xingu, Comissao Nacional das Mulheres Indigenas and Comite Intertribal ITC; Pu Fenua, Pu Metua and Agence Kanak de developement; and Senat Coutmier, Kanaky Nouvelle-Caledonie.

The representatives of Canada and Colombia also spoke.

The Forum will meet again at 3 p.m. Wednesday, 23 May, to discuss it future work and working methods, as well as emerging issues.

Background

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues met this afternoon to continue its sixth session and consider the issues “data collection and disaggregation”.  For background, see Press Release HR/4916 issued 11 May 2007.

Statements

Navin Rai of the World Bank shared that organization’s plans for a global disaggregated study, focusing on poverty and socio-economic indicators for indigenous peoples in over 10 countries of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.  The study’s intended audience included the Bank’s clients, Governments and peoples, development organizations and bodies of the United Nations system.  The collection of data on the situation of indigenous peoples would facilitate improved monitoring, allowing the situation to be assessed on the basis of data disaggregated for indigenous peoples.

He also presented information on the studies that the Bank had conducted in 2006 and earlier this year, including ones on indigenous peoples’ economic opportunities, poverty in Latin America, human development and income-generating strategies.  One of the conclusions of the studies was that, even where poverty declined, indigenous peoples recovered more slowly.  Also, low education rates translated into low income and the affected economic opportunities of individuals.  Improved data collection on indigenous people was needed.

ALBERT DETERVILLE, delivering a joint statement of the Caribbean Antilles Indigenous Peoples Caucus and associated organizations, said he was from St. Lucia, which had a population of 180,000, 35 to 40 per cent of which were indigenous peoples.  “We hold the balance of power,” he added.  He said small island developing States were particularly susceptible to climate change due to their unique political and socio-economic characteristics.  Every year, people in the Caribbean had to move to higher ground, as they faced risks from hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Contrary, he said small islands, whether in the tropics or elsewhere, also were susceptible to sea level rising, coral bleaching, threats to infrastructure that was used to support the livelihoods of indigenous peoples and had an impact on an islands’ attractiveness for tourism.  Further, higher temperatures created the potential for increased threats from invasive species.  He asked the Forum to allocate a half day in its seventh session to address such issues.

YUUKI HASEGAWA, of the Ainu Resource Centre in Japan, reported on the current situation on data collection on the Hokkaido Island, saying that the Government of Japan was not collecting specific data on the Ainu people.  As a result, the conditions of that people were unclear.  Although the Government had recently conducted a study on the situation on the Island in general, it only used indicators that targeted individual levels of discrimination.  The structure of discrimination and indirect forms of discrimination were hard to assess.

Two previous surveys of leading conditions of the Ainu had shown that social support was needed, she continued.  To provide such support, however, it was necessary to first understand the actual situation.  In addition, United Nations treaty bodies had made recommendations to the Government on data collection, including a suggestion that it was necessary to gather socio-economic data, disaggregated on the basis of gender and ethnicity, among other things.  Since then, the Government had made an effort to collect data on indigenous children, and it must show the results of that study.

In conclusion, she recommended that the Forum ask the Government of Japan to conduct a survey of the socio-economic situation of the Ainu people, with their effective participation and consultations.  She also recommended that the United Nations and its agencies establish a methodology for indigenous peoples’ data collection.

The representative of Canada discussed a recent conference hosted by three organizations in Ottawa.  That conference was attended by researchers and policymakers and focused, in part, on indigenous peoples and indicators of their well-being.  That session provided an opportunity for understanding international perspectives and discussion from countries, including Australia.  In that spirit, Canada would host its Third Aboriginal Policy Research Conference in March 2009, and she invited Forum participants to attend.  In the area of data collection, she noted the need for migration and mobility data for urban indigenous peoples.

BRIAN WATT, presenting a joint statement of Aboriginal groups from Australia, noted that this year marked the fortieth anniversary of Australia’s successful referendum to amend the country’s Constitution to make laws for indigenous peoples.  In other words, the Government had had 40 years to improve the situation of indigenous peoples, but little was achieved to improve the quality of life of indigenous Australians.  He was concerned about the adequacy of Government data collection, saying that indigenous peoples were not sufficiently involved or consulted, and thus had little say on the laws being assessed.  That situation needed to be addressed.  For instance, the way the situation of indigenous Australian had been reflected in the national census had had an adverse impact on their situation, making it difficult to evaluate the effect of policy changes and approaches.  Therefore, there was a risk that bad policies would not be identified in a timely manner.

Reminding the Forum about the plight of indigenous peoples of Australia, he noted, among other things, an increase in the youth population, which would require an increase in services.  The Government’s policy of de-funding indigenous-specific programmes in regional centres raised serious concerns as far as the collection of disaggregated data was concerned.  Without such data, the provision of services –- which was currently patchy, at best -- would be harder to measure.  There was a major evaluation gap in the new arrangements to reduce the indigenous people’s disadvantages.

The representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) said her organization had recently participated in events and discussions about initiatives to monitor implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights in Latin America.  Points raised in those processes included the improvement of monitoring mechanisms.  Indeed, that agenda had become complex and diverse, involving a number of processes within the development framework.  Thus, there was a need for indicators that were specific to indigenous peoples, and that related to areas including traditional knowledge, employment and human rights, among others.  Those indicators should be compatible with targets set out in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Millennium Development Goals framework.  Ideally, those policy instruments would involve indicators that would improve monitoring.

Generally speaking, many countries had a weak capacity for collecting data, she continued.  How would countries ensure that the main priorities for indigenous peoples were reflected in the main indicators?  She asked: Would a more feasible strategy be the development of a set of core indicators that captured the specific needs of indigenous peoples?

As the discussion continued, it was important also to look at potential monitoring processes to ensure their feasibility, she said.  What were the institutional mechanisms to ensure the efficiency of monitoring mechanisms?  Which existing mechanisms could be amended to address indigenous peoples’ concerns?  The International Labour Organization Convention, once ratified, implied the importance of monitoring mechanisms, in that Governments were required to submit reports to ILO experts.  Conventions 107 and 169 were particularly relevant, she said, also noting that Convention 111 on discrimination and employment held enormous potential for addressing indigenous peoples’ rights.

FABIANA DEL POPOLO, of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said that the Commission had been working for some years on production and analysis of information on the socio-economic situation of indigenous peoples.  In particular, it had been conducting seminars and doing other work with indigenous groups in several countries, with financing from the Inter-American Bank.  In 2005, a chapter on indigenous people had been included in one of the main ECLAC publications.  This year, it would present information on health programmes for indigenous peoples.

She also elaborated on ECLAC’s novel system of some 50 indicators -- “a small first step” to systematize the information –- which had been introduced to reflect important social and demographic indicators, including the situation of indigenous peoples in relation to the rest of the population.  The indicators allowed gaps in services to be measured, as well as generation and gender differences.  The Commission had elaborated a new definition of indicators, showing how they were calculated and interpreted, and also stating cultural relevance for that interpretation and what precautions had been used in the interpretation.  Another important feature was that the indicators were a product of collective work of the Indigenous Fund, experts and representatives of indigenous peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.  In order to improve the system and allow indigenous people to appropriate and use it, it was necessary to ensure that they could update those indicators.

She also touched upon the issue of the forthcoming Latin American 2010 census, saying that the Commission was planning to hold a meeting in 2008 in preparation for that event to evaluate proposals on what the minimum content should be and how to organize indigenous participation in the census.  To improve vital and health statistics, the Commission had recently begun working with local indigenous groups in Argentina and Chile, where a pilot study would be launched.  The study would later be extended to the rest of the countries of Latin America.

JOHN SCOTT, representing the Secretariat on the Convention for Biological Diversity, said a process of developing indicators for traditional knowledge was underway.  Additionally, the findings of a recent regional consultation process and an expert meeting would be presented in October.  He stressed that indigenous peoples must be actively engaged in establishing adequate indicators that captured their realities, and he urged that they be brought into all decision-making processes to address the continuing vexing problems.

The representative of the Tebtebba Foundation, noting that the Forum had identified data disaggregation and collection as important issues during its first and second sessions, discussed a recent survey conducted in the northern Philippines, which included the gathering of household data in various towns in that area.  Disaggregated data could be used to monitor a rights-based approach to addressing indigenous peoples’ rights.  The survey also generated data that gauged peoples’ satisfaction of services delivered by the Government.  A draft report was then presented in a workshop attended by Government officials. 

The experience showed that population-disaggregated data collection, indeed, was possible when conducted at the local level.  It brought to light issues of identity, as some indigenous people had identified themselves differently than others had described them.  In discussions held after the survey, additional facts about a person’s history surfaced, which added to understanding of the experience.  Advocacy campaigns should be undertaken to ensure that the ethnicity variable was included in national censuses.  Further, pilot studies on data disaggregation should be done with concerned Government bodies, and guidelines should be established to ensure that data gathering was more culturally sensitive.

The representative of the Ethiopian World Federation said she recognized that, for a nation to survive, basic needs must be met.  However, she was alarmed at the abundance of indigenous children in foster care.  The future course of American education was at stake, despite the body of research by American writers which had emerged in the last decade.  There was bound to be disintegration of the educational system.  She asked: What subject was most worthy?  What values and beliefs should be taught and how should teachers be selected?  Why were schools failing?  Until the world realized that the goals of education included the pursuit of human potential, no Government sponsored programme would ensure that indigenous children were educated.  Oral and written language held the potential for human development.  To understand why schools were failing, it was essential to consider the measures for success.

RASUL DZHAPPUEV of the Public Fund Balkaria said that indigenous people had survived in his region for hundreds of years, administering their own affairs in the Caucasus.  But, after the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent political changes that took place in the “Russian Empire” in the latter part of the twentieth century, the autonomy and lands of the Balkarian people had been slowly whittled away.  He requested the Forum to actively encourage the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and he asked the Chairperson to urgently send a human rights expert, specifically the Special Rapporteur, to the region to speak with the people there.

A speaker on behalf of Indigenous People of Bolivia said the native people, with the encouragement of Bolivian President Evo Morales, were actively working to preserve their cultural heritage and natural resources.  The original people of Bolivia and other nations should press national Governments to take their cultural interests into account, particularly in the area of education and other areas of public policymaking, he added.

GEORGIA CARINO, International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, Indigenous Working Group on Indicators, reported on a number of preparatory workshops that had been held during the past year, including on customary sustainable use, and Asian, African, Pacific and Latin American and Caribbean regional workshops on well-being indicators.  Among the conclusions and observations that had emerged from the process, she highlighted the fact that indigenous peoples in the workshops had supported a human rights-based approach to indicators, which included disaggregated data on efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals.  She said that some countries already had databases that disaggregated information on an ethnic basis.  Those databases must be built upon to expand the indicators to cover all indigenous and native peoples in those and other countries.

Statements on Second International Decade of World’s Indigenous Peoples

ABOUBAKAR BABAGANA, making a joint statement on behalf of the Africa Caucus and the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC), addressed the situation of Africa’s indigenous Sahelian communities, which inhabited a region which stretched from Senegal to Somalia and which bordered the Sahara in the north and the Sudanese Savannah in the south.  He said that not enough attention was paid by world Governments or the United Nations agencies to the devastating affects of desertification on the region.  He called on the Permanent Forum to press Governments of the Sahel and the Horn to create a space for dialogue with indigenous people when it came to considering land allocation rights.

MILDRED GANDIA REYES, representing the Indigenous Caucus of the Greater Caribbean, said her organization had submitted recommendations at other sessions, but had received no follow-up.  She asked the Forum to urge the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to support the recovery of Caribbean heritage, culture and writings, and, further, to sponsor special regional meetings with indigenous experts as it worked with endangered education.

She pressed States and UNESCO to provide resources to develop language and cultural exchange programmes, in order to support ancient languages that had been virtually wiped out by dominant languages.  Further, she encouraged States, including Puerto Rico, to review public education material and remove erroneous historical accounts that had rendered indigenous peoples invisible, or had misrepresented them in any way.  She asked Caribbean States, particularly Puerto Rico, to work with indigenous Caribbean islanders to promote indigenous human rights and ensure that Constitutions recognized them, as such.  She urged the Association of Caribbean States, the Rio Group and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to establish a special regional fund for indigenous representatives, so they are able to attend Forum events throughout the Second Decade.

OLGA TIMOFEEVA TERESHKINA, representative of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), said Russia was one of first to declare the Second International Decade on Indigenous Peoples and had stated that defence of indigenous peoples’ rights was a priority.  One might have the impression that the Second Decade was a success.  However, that was not the case.  A closer look at information on indigenous peoples would reveal no statistical information showing that Russia had implemented its Declaration, merely general information on the number of indigenous people per square kilometre.  Furthermore, there was a gap between the central and regional approaches to gathering statistics on health services and other issues.  A federal law on traditional use had not been applied in the last six years.  She urged the Forum to press the Government to apply the laws it had enacted.

ROMY THACH, the representative of the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation and the Montagnard Foundation, said the Millennium Development Goals were of capital importance.  If Viet Nam wanted to achieve the Goals, it was important to recognize the Khmer Krom and Degar peoples as indigenous peoples of the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands, respectively.  He urged Viet Nam to review national legislation to incorporate indigenous laws and incorporate indigenous traditional learning systems into schools.  Further, the Government should work with UNESCO and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to create workshops to educate people about their basic rights.  Finally, he said the Government’s non-recognition of indigenous peoples was reinforcing a barrier to achieving the Goals.

NEIL GILLESPIE, speaking in behalf of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council and associated organizations, addressed the issues of health services, housing and access to justice.  Regarding health, he said there had been minimal improvements in the last 40 years.  As inhabitants of a “first world nation”, indigenous peoples continued to have life expectancy similar to those in developing countries.  On the issue of housing, he said the Australian Government, unfortunately, had decided to abolish 600 indigenous-controlled housing organizations.

Regarding access to justice, he said it was with a sad heart that he must report that the Australian Government’s agenda ignored traditional systems within its wider justice system.  Indigenous peoples accounted for less than 3 per cent of Australia’s total population; indigenous men, however, comprised about 20 per cent of those incarcerated.

His delegation recommended that the Forum support the immediate adoption of the Declaration, as adopted by the Human Rights Council.  Additionally, it should urge all States to provide for the recognition of customary and traditional laws within national justice systems.  Moreover, the Forum should call on States that ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to develop indicators to realize indigenous human rights.

MARCOS TERENA, in a joint statement on behalf of Comite Intertribal Parlamento Indigena de Pantanal, Central de informacion indigena, Land is Life and Conselho Nacional de Mulheres Indigenas, said that the Second Decade should strive to ensure respect for the ancestral land, territorial and natural resource rights of the world’s indigenous peoples.  The Decade must make real the hopes and dreams of native and first peoples, particularly those living in isolated regions, who were routinely marginalized or forcibly separated from their sacred lands.  The roles of indigenous women should also be stressed, as well as the importance of protecting and preserving indigenous knowledge and languages.  He hoped that the celebration of the Second Decade would be accompanied by concrete action that amounted to more than “the smoke that rises into the air after a fire had been put out”.

IVAN IGNACIO, in a joint statement on behalf of Consejo Indio de Sudamerica and Andean First Nation’s Council, said that the bridge to securing the fundamental “cosmic” rights of indigenous people had been built with the bones of their ancestors.  Those that had gone before had fallen victim to patriarchal domination and a genocide that was still ongoing, as national Governments in the Americas sought to remake Indian territories and societies.  “We are pre-Hispanic Latin cultures with a right to self-determination,” he said, recommending that, for the Second Decade, the United Nations begin a process of serious self-examination aimed at, among other things, adjusting its agreed definition of “State”, so that it took into account the historical and traditional owners of lands currently being occupied by those sitting behind flags representing their Government in the General Assembly.

LUCKY SHERPA, delivering a joint statement on behalf of Himalayan Indigenous Women’s Network, the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities and the National Indigenous Network, said that indigenous women made up some 35 per cent of the population of the entire country of Nepal.  Despite that reality, they were virtually overlooked in all aspects of society.  Their diversity was not recognized and they were marginalized at all levels.  She called on the Permanent Forum to monitor the situation of Nepalese indigenous women, and on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to promote the participation of indigenous peoples groups, particularly women’s movements, in Nepalese decision-making processes and in efforts to protect and promote the rights of Nepalese indigenous peoples.  She also called on the Nepalese Permanent Mission to the United Nations to actively support the participation of indigenous peoples in its delegation during the upcoming General Assembly.

RAHAEL THAGMAWIA, delivering a joint statement on behalf of the Zo Reunification Organization (ZORO), Society of Zoram Vengtu and the Zomi National Council, said that, without infrastructure build-up in their region -- the highlands in The Chin Hills and Arakans of “Burma”, the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and areas in India -- the people there would remain marginalized.  He called for the Permanent Forum to focus particular attention on the situation of the Zo people and to press for the Zo to be directly benefited in any decision taking place in the region concerning their lands.

JENNIFER AWAINGAN, delivering a joint statement on behalf of the Asia-Pacific Indigenous Youth Network and the Youth Caucus, said that the First Decade had been a milestone in the effort to raise awareness about the situation of indigenous people around the world.  Still, indigenous people, particularly youth and women, continued to be marginalized in most countries.  She said the Network hoped the Second Decade would not only promote the welfare of indigenous youth, but would also lead to concrete support for the holding of a global youth conference, which would serve as a forum for discussing critical issues regarding the world’s native and tribal young people.  She called on United Nations agencies and Governments to focus on boosting skill-sharing activities and support indigenous inclusion and participation in international forums, particularly those considering implementation of the goals of the Second Decade.

LOUISE GLYNN, representing the Second Generation of Indigenous Irish Youth of Retrieve Foundation, said there was a lack of acknowledgement of her people by her Government’s Constitution.  It was important that indigenous Irish youth be educated in their traditional ways.  While Government-funded reports chronicled problems such as drugs, suicide and alcohol addiction, nowhere was a link made between those problems and the loss of traditional spiritual knowledge.

Mainstream education was not offering the remedy so desperately needed, she continued.  Spiritually aware youth had identified the remedy.  She mandated the Government to acknowledge her peoples’ divine spirituality as the key factor in alleviating the despair of Irish youth.  Further, she asked the Government to develop educational curricula that contained traditional culture and spiritual values.

OLLIE McCLEAN, representing the Ethiopian World Forum, said indigenous peoples from the eastern hemisphere had been stolen from their homelands to become the profitable cargo of “slave ships”.  For centuries, they suffered under the cruellest indignations known to humankind, including governmental systems on two continents that had re-institutionalized chattel slavery, apartheid and the radical racist laws, which left them disenfranchised.

Original indigenous peoples from the eastern and western hemispheres were robbed of their homeland, languages, religions, histories and nationalities, she continued.  Two continents had been built on their backs and their descendants were prevented from living with cultural dignity.  She recommended complete intervention by the Forum in the areas discussed, as attention to those issues had been long overdue.  The invasion of territories, kidnapping and forced enslavement constituted crimes against humanity, she added.

LINDA CHERY, representing the Grandmothers of Mother Earth, called for a new vision to bring the world closer to balance and peace.  Children of the world wanted green grass, to play together, to be safe and to eat.  What were the unborn saying?  What kind of a world would they have?  The Grandmothers were calling for an evolutionary leap and the time had come for their concerns to be heard.  By whose authority were children going to war?  Where were the women in support of one another?  The goal of the Grandmothers was to exemplify wise leadership, good citizenship and to secure a seat at the United Nations.

MIGUEL IBANEZ, representing Habitat Pro, said the world was faced with serious problems including global warming and globalization.  Global warming caused by human activity was swiftly attacking environmental systems throughout the world.  Those systems had given life to indigenous peoples and Governments were taking actions that had bad consequences.  The first victims were always indigenous peoples.  He said States used manoeuvres to show that indigenous peoples were disappearing from statistical data, as a way to justify allocating a smaller piece of the national budget to them.  Further, it was important to reject some African States’ decision to postpone a decision on adopting the Declaration.  The document could not be negotiated further, because the rights of indigenous peoples were not negotiable.

CARMEN RAMIREZ BOSCAN, delivering a joint statement by Cabildo Wayuu Nouna Campamento, Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu, said many languages were spoken in Colombia but “hegemonic” practices and development models had precluded those that favoured indigenous peoples.  Her organization had been defending victims of internal armed conflict and human rights violations perpetrated by the paramilitary, as very often indigenous peoples were forgotten and families had been forced to flee to Venezuela.  She went on to say that most crimes committed between 2000 and 2007 had not been reflected in official statistics.  Indeed, crimes had actually increased during the peace process.

Increased military actions to combat drug trafficking had exacerbated existing problems and had negatively impacted indigenous populations.  Given the lack of statistics relating to the Wayuu peoples, she recommended procedures and monitoring mechanisms.  She asked the Forum to help build visibility in the Human Rights Council of indigenous peoples in countries suffering internal conflicts.  Additionally, UNDP and the High Commissioner for Human Rights should provide resources that would help build a “common memory” that reflected the collective sufferance of the Wayuu people.

PIRAKUMAN XINGU, delivering a joint statement by Organizacao Protal Xingu, Comissao Nacional das Mulheres Indigenas and Comite Intertribal ITC, said in Brazil a Government project to build eight major dams was threatening indigenous peoples.  International Labour Organization Convention 169 was being ignored and there was no exercise of free, prior and informed consent.  He was disturbed that the Government was not willing to listen to any complaints.  He urged the Forum to take up the question of implementation of appropriate mechanisms for consultation, to ensure that native peoples could participate in decision-making.

CARLOS SUAREZ ( Colombia) said his Government had taken action at the national level to implement the goals of the Second Decade, particularly improving access to land, education, heath and institutional decision-making.  A four-year plan “Community Development for All” had been launched and would focus, in four-year cycles, on economic development projects and other indigenous concerns.  The Government’s plans also included an integrated support plan for rural peoples.  He said that the Government was taking a long-term approach, and was boosting its efforts to cooperate with neighbouring countries, as well as with indigenous representatives in border areas.  He also drew attention to a plan aimed at the re-integrating of Colombians that had once been members of illegal armed groups.

Turning to Colombia’s peace process, he said President Alvaro Uribe Vélez led the process through the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and sought to bring the leaders of illegal groups to the judiciary.  Such persons would have to pay reparations to victims, and a national reparation and reconciliation Commission was used in that process.  Thus far, some 44,000 ex-fighters had been demobilized in the wake of Congress’s passing of the so-called Truth and Justice Law.  The entire process was being overseen by a revamped judiciary, he added.  He said that Government would continue to implement plans and policies on ethnic groups within the scope of the Constitution and in line with development priorities.

MAREVA NETI DE MONTLUC, making a joint statement on behalf of the Pu Fenua, Pu Metua, and Agence Kanak de developpement, respectfully called on the French Government to re-examine the validity of the Treaty of 1880, signed by France and some of the last Chiefs of Tahiti and neighbouring Islands.  She called for the findings to be submitted to the Forum for further consideration.  She said there was a need to clarify the mechanisms of the treaty and called on the Government of France to immediately launch an official inquiry in that regard.

JUIEN BONAMOI, Senat Coutmier, Kanaky Nouvelle-Caledonie, said that the lands of the Kanak people were under pressure from four major industrial projects being carried out by multinational corporations.  Such activities, undertaken without the consent of the Kanak people, amounted to a new form of colonization, he said.  He called on the Forum to press the Assembly to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in its current form, during the current session.

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