Presentation to the WCIP Interactive Dialogue June 17-18, 2014 |
![]() |
Presentation from the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to the WCIP Interactive Dialogue June 17-18, 2014, UN Headquarters New York Question: What are indigenous peoples priorities/visions for sustainable development and how these priorities/visions be included in the national development planning as well as the international Post-2015 Development Agenda?
Thank you Madame Moderator for allowing me to speak on this very important topic. This is a key issue for all indigenous peoples and I believe our contributions to the processes determining what development should be in the 21st century and beyond will spell whether humanity can survive this century or not. Many environmentalists and some indigenous peoples speak about saving the earth but I think the earth can take care of itself. It is human beings who are in big trouble and we are among these. In my earlier life before I became the SRRIP, I was very much engaged as an indigenous representative of my networks and organizations in the sustainable development processes of the UN. I was in Rio in 1992, where the indigenous peoples' caucus worked hard to get Chapter 26 of the Agenda 21 on the Role of Indigenous Peoples and their communities in Sustainable Development. I witnessed the most unfortunate development when the UN announced that its efforts to develop a Code of Conduct for Transnational Corporations failed and the existence of the UN Commission on TNCs and the Center for TNCs ended. I will talk more about the issue of transnational corporations on development and indigenous peoples later. Fast forward 2014, we now find ourselves in the midst of the present efforts of the international community to develop the Post-2015 Development Agenda. This will be the global development agenda until 2030. Tebtebba, my organization, International Indian Treaty Council and Indigenous Information Network are the co-organizing partners for the Indigenous Peoples at the Open-ended Working on SDGs and the Post-2015 Development Agenda processes. We are trying our best to bring indigenous peoples issues into the outcome documents of these processes. First I would like to reiterate that the 9 points in the Alta Outcome Document under Theme 4, which is "Indigenous peoples' priorities for development with free, prior and informed consent" have been the basis for the advocacy work we have been doing in the Working Group on SDGs and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Many of these are consistent with what have been identified in the Zero Draft of the Outcome Document of the OWG-SDG. My colleague Galina Angarova who is based here in New York to take part in these processes will speak later from the floor on the latest developments. Below is the list of Proposed Sustainable Development Goals to be attained by 2030 1. End poverty and reduce inequality in all their dimensions everywhere
1. Proposed goal 2 on food security - target 2.9 - achieve by 2030 protection and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, including through enhanced use and application of indigenous practices and local and traditional knowledge, and through agricultural research and development related to agro-biodiversity and diversity of food; 2. Proposed goal 4 on education - target 4.6 - by 2030 ensure that people in vulnerable situations and marginalized people including persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples have access to inclusive education, skills development and vocational training aligned with labour market needs; 3. Proposed goal 9 on sustainable industrialization - target 9.10 - promote indigenous technology development and the growth of domestic innovation in developing countries 4. Proposed goal 10 on inequality - target 10.5 - empower and promote the social and economic inclusion of the poor, the marginalized and people in vulnerable situations, including indigenous peoples, women, minorities, migrants, persons with disabilities, older persons, children and youth 5. Proposed goal 15 on biodiversity - target 15.10 - ensure free prior informed consent of indigenous peoples and local communities in decision making and natural resources management, and promote the use of their traditional knowledge The Indigenous Peoples' Major Group ( IPMG) response paper to this zero draft was presented before the morning hearings on June 17, yesterday. This included the following points: On Proposed Goal 1: The IPMG strongly urged the co-chairs and member states to reconsider target 1.1 ( by 2030, eradicate extreme poverty by bringing the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day to zero) and focus on a measure of well-being rather than on income alone. In addition, in relation to poverty eradication, we would like to highlight that Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately reflected among the very poor. This relates to lack of recognition of our land rights. We are urge amendment to target 1.5 with inclusion of "individual and collective rights" to land, property and other productive resources. On Proposed Goal 3: On Proposed Goal 4: On Proposed Goal 8.: On Proposed Goal 9: On Proposed Goal 15: High Level Political Forum (HLPF) The IMPG has been working with DESA and other Major Groups to prepare for the HLPF to be held June 30-July 9 in New York. Unfortunately, the process lacks transparency. The agenda is still not approved by the ECOSOC President therefore it's not yet being distributed to Major Groups and other stakeholders. The draft agenda was "secretly" shared with us by DESA. Two thirds of the HLPF draft agenda is dedicated to presentations from the representatives of Business and Industry and the Major Groups did not have any input drafting it. From the "secretly" shared draft we saw that there were only two slots allocated to IP speakers.
* * * |