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The signing of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), in 2007, was a landmark achievement in the survival and protection of indigenous communities worldwide. On this year’s International Day of Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations held a commemorative event to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the UNDRIP, and reflect on its impact on the well-being of indigenous communities worldwide.
The UNDRIP was lauded as the most comprehensive international instrument, to date that supports the rights of indigenous communities. It encompasses areas like self-determination, cultural rights and identity, education, health, employment, language and many others.
“For us this document is the universal framework and it is enormously important for the survival the dignity and the well-being of indigenous peoples. It is an adaptation of the Declaration of Human Rights”, said Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Mr. Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild, an indigenous rights advocate who worked on the declaration, reflected on the long struggle of indigenous peoples to have a space in the international arena.
“When in 1923 indigenous leaders tried to have a voice at the League of Nations, they had no chance to have their voices heard. In 1977 a delegation went to Geneva to try and have a voice; with the goal, also, to have a permanent place. We were blessed with the establishment of the permanent space now called the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues”, he said.
According to Chandra Roy-Henriksen, Chief of the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, there have been “noticeable shifts and changes on how indigenous peoples are recognized in their respective countries”. She noted that even the four countries that voted against the UNDRIP in 2007 have now changed their position.
“At the national level several states decided that they needed to amend their constitutions regarding indigenous peoples and some proposed amendments”, said Aboubakrine, who underscored how some courts used the UNDRIP in their rulings to protect indigenous peoples.
Indeed, there has been progress since the signing of the declaration, but indigenous peoples still face widespread discrimination and plenty of obstacles to exercise their full rights.
The Namibian Deputy Minister for Marginalised Communities, Hon. Royal Johan Kxao /Ui/o/oo, member of the San community, said that the Namibian government had the responsibility to remedy “the historical injustice imposed under indigenous peoples and their marginalised communities” despite the difficulties.
“The responsibility of the Namibian government is to advance the human rights of the San communities through dedicated targeted interventions that will result in the social integration of these communities, creating employment opportunities for them and ensuring that they have access to land”, said Royal Johan Kxao /Ui/o/oo.
Indigenous contributions to humankind
In addition to securing universal rights for indigenous peoples, having a specific declaration of rights for them has also led to important contributions to humankind. That is how Grand Chief Littlechild sees the long struggle – more than 20 years of negotiation– towards the declaration.
One of these contributions is the recognition of spirituality as a human right, which in the declaration appears together with traditional economic, cultural and civil rights. Another important contribution is in the field of ecology, given that the negotiation rounds towards the declaration brought up environmental topics far before it became a mainstream concern in global politics.
“An elder asked a delegation of states ‘which one of you is going to argue for my brother the fish, for the bird that flies, or the four-legged that die so we can live, or for clean air or clean water?’ That day marked the start of consciousness for climate protection in the UN”, said Grand Chief Littlechild.
Indigenous Peoples and the SDGs
Since the signing of the Declaration, there have been many efforts at the international level to provide meaningful mechanisms for engagement with and for indigenous peoples. These include the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and a Special Rapporteur.
Most recently, pressure from indigenous representatives has led to the inclusion of direct references to indigenous communities in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs.
According to Chandra Roy-Henriksen, this is the result of indigenous peoples using UN mechanisms to raise their voices and lobby member states. As a result, goals such as education and health particularly reference indigenous peoples’ concerns.
“When I look at these goals [the SDGs], all of them impact us directly. We sought to be more directly included in the discussion. For example, ending poverty. Poverty impacts indigenous peoples disproportionately, and sometimes they are among the poorest people in some states”, said Littlechild.
Remaining challenges
It is true that the inclusion of specific references to indigenous peoples in the SDGs is the result of having established mechanisms to hear their voices and address their concerns. Nevertheless, participation in decision-making remains one of the greatest challenges that indigenous peoples face nowadays. These peoples cannot yet fully participate in areas where matters that directly affect them are being decided.
“Now again we have another wall that we need to climb”, said Grand Chief Littlechild. “We had this journey of recognition but now we are at a point again where we are being challenged in our right to participate in decision making.”
Indigenous peoples also continue to face many challenges on the ground. While the declaration has triggered policy reform and institutional creation the daily lives of indigenous peoples is “business as usual”, according to Albert Barume, Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Barume enumerated some of the hardships that indigenous people still endure, such as unequal access to education or health care, a high rate of suicide among young people, drug and alcohol abuse, the disappearance of some languages, or the misleading portrayal of their way of life to justify abuse of their rights. Chandra Roy-Henriksen also highlighted some of the reports that affect indigenous women, which are often placed under “severe stress, violence and hardship.”
When it comes to development, the UNDRIP includes the right to prior, free and informed consent. By this principle, indigenous populations must be consulted before corporations and governments begin the development of their land and the exploitation of their resources. Some states, though, view it as a right to veto development.
“As middle-income countries pursue development, there comes a challenge, which is not to run over indigenous rights. To ensure that states pursue the principle of free, prior informed, consent and that they uphold the traditions of indigenous peoples. To balance that with development is one of the biggest challenges that we have”, said Aboubakrine.
According to Barume states should have national action plans to implement the declaration and there should also be more actors involved in its implementation. These are the private sector, civil society and media. According to the Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, future fora for discussion of indigenous rights should include different stakeholders outside from the member states and the indigenous peoples themselves.
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Source: UNSDN