IFG Programs: Indigenous Rights

IFG PROGRAMS: INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

US Supports the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Dec. 16, 2010
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Read the written transcript of President Obama’s remarks from the White House Tribal Nations Conference

Susan Masten, Chairperson of the Indian Law Resource Center Board, comments on the U.S. endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Victory came last Thursday after a more than 30-year-long hard fought battle by indigenous peoples and non-indigenous ally organizations, including IFG, for the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples. As you know, passage of the UN Declaration has been a top priority for IFG over the past 4 years. We are very grateful for this enormous success. (more)

	ACTUALIZATION OF THE UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (UNDRIP) The IFG has played a leading role in bringing indigenous issues into prominence within a number of new arenas while educating and recruiting new allies. In this regard, indigenous leaders who helped lead the international campaign to pass the new United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) recently mandated IFG to establish a new network to encourage, support, and coordinate efforts by non-indigenous ally organizations to help implement UNDRIP. Indigenous people of the world now live on more than 50% of the world’s remaining natural resource base—the basis of the material economy—and are under enormous pressures to sell them or otherwise get out of the way, or get pushed out of the way, so the larger economy can make a last desperate grab at the resources. It is also a fact that it has been indigenous economic and political philosophies that have permitted their lands to remain in a (relatively) pristine state over these years, while the rest of the world, following a destructive development model, has trashed the planet.
	Over the last 25 years indigenous peoples have become increasingly aware and politically active as a result of the pressures that global climate change are working upon them, asserting their rights to continue to live on these lands and control the resources as they see fit. They have even made direct political gains, such as the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia. Then, two years ago, in September 2007, as the result of a 22 year campaign actively supported internationally, and in the final year by IFG through our successful effort to organize non-indigenous allies into the movement—the indigenous peoples of the world achieved a stupendous victory by the overwhelming passage of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United Nations General Assembly. This UN Declaration is a very profound document, every bit as important as the UN Declaration on Human Rights from 40 years earlier, including such radical concepts as: • Recognition of “aboriginal” and “prior rights” to remain on traditional lands, and make all determinations as to how that land will be used, including refusing all development; • The right of “free prior and informed consent” as to any outside interventions, or development schemes that are not first approved by the indigenous owners; • The right of “collective governance” and land ownership, and traditional governance systems; • The right to remain “separate and distinct” from all other societies; and • The right to retention of all traditional cultural, political, spiritual and economic value systems, among others. The first step in our work is to campaign to gain greater recognition for the UN Declaration—its adoption by other international agencies, domestic governments, countries and states, and by efforts to support indigenous communities that invoke the Declaration in their fights to protect their lands and resources from further pillage. To that end, IFG organized an invitational briefing strategy session on implementing the UN Declaration in October 2008 in Washington, DC. Attended by key leaders from 3 dozen-plus non-indigenous NGOs together with 5 NGO leaders from around the world, the 2 day meeting covered the history and basics of the UN Declaration together with key strategic applications of the provisions of the Declaration in current urgent international negotiations including the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the WTO. As a result of the success of the meeting, IFG was asked by those present to create an international NGO Alliance in support of the UN Declaration with the goal of ever increasing the education and involvement of non-indigenous NGOs, the media and the general public on the urgent need to recognize and respect indigenous peoples’ rights. A detailed report of this meeting has been published by IFG and is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish on the IFG website and in paper copies directly from the IFG office. In early 2009, IFG organized a series of events on the implementation of the UN Declaration at the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil, where we also distributed 2000 copies of the strategy meeting report. Further activities in the IFG Indigenous Program include:
•	Indigenous Rights “Primer”: Analysis of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples One of the key roadblocks to support for implementation of the UNDRIP document is the lack of detailed understanding of its provisions. IFG will undertake a point by point analysis of key articles within the UNDRIP that have clear implications for the work of international NGOs engaged in environmental, trade, finance, social justice and human rights work. Specific examples of how the provisions relate to ongoing campaigns and struggles will be given. We will distribute the “Primer” along with the Emergency Convening Follow Up Report, at a series of international meetings and negotiations throughout 2009/2010.
•	Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change, Anchorage, Alaska, April 2009 IFG worked with the indigenous organizers of this historic meeting to bring non-indigenous allies and identify members of the media to come to this event to support and spread the word about the international agenda on climate change. IFG distributed copies of the report of our Emergency Convening and helped the indigenous steering committee identify key non-indigenous civil society leaders who would benefit from being invited to Anchorage.
•	UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, New York, New York, May 2009 IFG created a series of side events - both inside and outside the UN - designed to bring non-indigenous NGO leaders into deeper understanding of the active concerns and campaigns of the world’s indigenous peoples in general and the provisions of the UNDRIP in particular. We also facilitated leading non-indigenous NGOs to participate in the UN Permanent Forum in order to interact directly with the over 3000 indigenous representatives and governmental delegates who attend the annual meeting.
•	Intersessional Meetings, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Bonn, Germany, June 2009 and Bangkok, Thailand, September/October 2009 These two meetings are the final key negotiating sessions before the Copenhagen climate meeting where the next phase of the Kyoto Climate Protocol agreements are to be ratified. Coming after the Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change, these meetings will be a key venue for ensuring that indigenous concerns are heard and indigenous peoples rights as articulated in UNDRIP are asserted and defended. IFG will co-sponsor events to support indigenous colleagues’ interventions in the climate negotiations. IFG will assist our indigenous allies in garnering support for consensus points among Indigenous Peoples from the non-indigenous NGO leadership active in the UNFCCC process.
•	Ongoing Campaign Activities Towards Copenhagen (July – December 2009) and Participation in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Copenhagen, Denmark, December 2009 (publications, public relations, online, NGO and governments outreach, etc.) We anticipate that, coming out of the Bonn and Bangkok UNFCCC preparatory meetings, there will be key positions of concern and interest to indigenous peoples that will need advocacy and support at the final climate decision making meeting to take place in Copenhagen. We propose to mount a campaign, in consultation with our indigenous colleagues, similar to our original emergency campaign in support of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to continue to educate non-indigenous NGO leadership, governments, and the media on policy initiatives that support Indigenous peoples’ rights within the UNFCCC. We will reinforce our climate policy proposals through briefing papers, fact sheets, publications, side events, media work, and direct dialogue with governments and NGOs in strategy sessions and individual meetings.

US Supports the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Dec. 16, 2010 More | Read detailed announcement

US Supports the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Dec. 16, 2010
More | Read detailed announcement