UN launches Programme of Action for 2nd Decade for Indigenous Peoples

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the launch of a Programme of Action for the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – an initiative offering recommendations on the environment, development, education, health and human rights – as representatives from across the globe gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York to meet on the issue.

“Today, I call on all States to work with indigenous peoples to translate the Programme into reality on the ground,” he said in a video message to the fifth annual session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which runs through 26 May.

“Let us aim to make it mean something positive – a change for the better – in the life of every indigenous person, wherever he or she may live,” Mr. Annan told.

The Secretary-General recalled that UN Member States had reaffirmed their commitment to preserve and maintain the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous communities in the Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit. They recognized the sustainable development of indigenous peoples as crucial in the fight against hunger and poverty, and pledged to present for adoption a UN declaration on indigenous peoples’ rights as soon as possible.

The Programme of Action for the Second Decade was meant to give practical effect to those words for the benefit of all indigenous peoples – from the northern reaches of the Arctic to the pastoralist communities of Africa, Mr. Annan said.

“The adoption of the declaration, this long-held aspiration of the world’s indigenous peoples, will be one of the top priorities of the newly created Human Rights Council,” said Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Coordinator for the Second Decade José Antonio Ocampo.

“The history and current realities of indigenous peoples clearly require that the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples’ human rights continue to be high on the international agenda,” he added.

Mr. Ocampo encouraged members of the international community to adopt and implement specific plans of action for the Decade and to contribute to the Trust Fund on Indigenous Issues.

Milialani Trask of the Indigenous Caucus called for the redefinition of the social indicators on which the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were based, saying they should not be framed by market and cash-based analyses, since the “one-dollar-a-day” parameter for poverty failed to adequately measure poverty in the world’s vast and varied indigenous communities.

Re-examining the MDGs would require taking a hard look at the systematic racism and non-recognition of human rights that indigenous peoples faced, injustices which perpetuated poverty among them, she said.

Forum Chairperson Victoria Tauli-Corpuz noted that the resolution in which the Programme of Action was adopted used the correct term under international law “indigenous peoples,” putting to rest the attempt to use “indigenous people.”

The creation of legal standards and rules through the adoption of an international declaration would ensure respect for all the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. In some countries, where the rights of indigenous peoples had been barely acknowledged, the declaration would be particularly important, she added.

Repeating the main objectives of the Decade, Ms. Tauli-Corpuz said: “Let us pledge in this Hall of the United Nations General Assembly our commitment to achieve these objectives, so that in the year 2015 we will come back and be proud of what we have achieved in terms of ending discrimination, marginalization, oppression and extreme poverty of indigenous peoples, because we took seriously the challenge to create partnerships for action and dignity.”