philippines

The ability to “read” changes in weather patterns or in animal behaviour has saved indigenous communities from natural disasters for centuries.

Indigenous activists meeting at the United Nations are hoping that traditional knowledge like this will be recognized in global efforts to combat climate change and create a more equitable planet.

Joan Carling is an expert member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which concludes its annual session in New York this Friday.

Value of women’s unpaid work deserves recognition

One suburb of the Filipino capital, Manila, is trying to confront the issue of violence against women using a novel form of community patrolling.

Women’s Safety Audits are a “participatory tool” being piloted as part of the UN Women Safe Cities initiative.

The idea is to discourage physical or sexual violence against women and girls by empowering concerned citizens to patrol their own neighbourhoods, and come up with solutions to make them safer.

After Typhoon Haiyan slammed the Philippines two years ago this month, people in the town of Tanauan came together with “an innate desire to be of service.”

That’s according to mayor Pel Tecson who believes this community spirit, or as it is known locally “bayanihan,” was the reason why his hometown was able to bounce back from the devastation.

Mr Tecson was recently at the UN to share what he has learned about the value of community-led development.

A social services project run by the Philippines government has changed life in indigenous village in the north of the country, according to one of the residents.

Elsie Lomong-Oy is a member of the Igorot people in Besao mountain province where roughly half of the population falls below the poverty line.

She recently spoke at the UN about the value of community-led development in addressing poverty and promoting more inclusive local government.

Ms Lomong-Oy told Dianne Penn about the programme known as KALAHI-CIDSS.

Duration: 3’29”

Coffee farming is helping indigenous people in the Philippines to protect the environment, preserve their ancestral lands and secure their financial future.

They are doing so through an organization called Coffee for Peace, one of the winners of a UN-backed award that celebrates innovation.

Coffee for Peace began eight years ago on the southern island of Mindanao, where Islamic rebel groups have been fighting for self-determination for decades.