At Headquarters, Secretary-General Praises Indigenous Filmmakers for Enriching

World’s Understanding of ‘What Binds Us Together as a Human Family’

 

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at a ceremony marking International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, in New York, 9 August:

Thank you for that wonderful welcome and I thank Mr. Kevin Tarrant for such beautiful music.

I am delighted to be here with indigenous peoples from all over the world, to mark an important day on the United Nations calendar.

Indigenous peoples have preserved a vast amount of humanity’s cultural history, and speak a majority of the world’s languages.

You have inherited and passed on a wealth of knowledge, traditions and artistic forms.

The landmark United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples laid out a framework for Governments to use in strengthening relationships with indigenous peoples and protecting their human rights.

Since then, we have seen Governments working to redress social and economic injustices.  Indigenous peoples’ issues are more prominent on the international agenda than ever before.

But indigenous peoples still suffer disproportionate poverty, poor health and racism.  Their languages, religions and cultural traditions are often shunned.

Earlier this year, the UN issued its first report on the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.  Its findings should concern us all.

In some countries, indigenous people are 600 times more likely to contract tuberculosis than the general population.

In others, an indigenous child can expect to die 20 years before his or her non-indigenous compatriots.

Every day, indigenous communities face issues of violence, brutality and dispossession of their lands.

We must increase indigenous peoples’ access to vital services including education, health care and employment.

We must continue to raise the status of indigenous peoples.

This year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous People recognizes the work of indigenous filmmakers.

These artists and educators give us windows into their communities, cultures and history.

They enrich our understanding of human diversity — but also of what binds us together as a human family.

We have a treat in store for us today:  films from Siberia, Sweden, Alaska and the Caribbean.  I thank the filmmakers who have come to explain their work, and hope their efforts are seen by a wide global audience.

Today, I call on Governments and civil society to reinvigorate their commitment to indigenous peoples.

Let us work together to promote and protect their human rights, their unique cultural traditions, and their languages and history.

Let us reaffirm our commitment to the well-being of all indigenous people, everywhere.

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For information media • not an official record