Indigenous Rights

A Responsibility to Prevent Genocide

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Almost 70 years since the Genocide Convention was adopted, the international community still faces a continued and growing risk of genocide.

“Banging on the Door” – Women Fight for a Voice and Space in Civil Society

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
The space for civil society organizations is shrinking around the world, with particular impacts on women activists and human rights defenders who face additional barriers due to their gender or sexual orientation.

Indigenous People, Guardians of Threatened Forests in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Indigenous peoples, recognised as the best guardians of the world's forests, are losing some battles in Brazil in the face of intensified pressure from the expansion of agriculture, mining and electricity generation.

On Gender Day at Climate Meet, Some Progress, Many Hurdles

By Stella Paul
“Five years ago, when we first started talking about including gender in the negotiations, the parties asked us, ‘Why gender?’ Today, they are asking, ‘How do we include gender?’ That’s the progress we have seen since Doha,” said Kalyani Raj.

‘Never Again’: Investing in Prevention and Early Action

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
After the Rwandan genocide, the United Nations promised ‘never again.’ But has the international community kept their word?From Mexico to Myanmar, conflicts and humanitarian crises have multiplied.

Who is Really Responsible for Collapse of Zimbabwe’s Health Services?

By Frederic Mousseau
On October 22, 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it had removed Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador following outrage and concerns raised by his appointment just two days before.

Lack of International Action on Rohingya Crisis Called a “Disgrace”

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
As the crisis in Myanmar reaches unprecedented levels, frustration is at its peak as the international community remains slow to respond and act cohesively.

Driven to Extremes–How Poverty Fuels Extremism, and How to Help Africa’s Youth

By Siddharth Chatterjee
Poverty is a blight, and one that disproportionately affects sub-Saharan Africa. It is a vast and complex issue whose tentacles reach into many areas, including climate change, sustainable development and–crucially–global security. The link between poverty and violent extremism is compelling, and means that if we want to address extremism, we must fight inequality too.

Dams Hurt Indigenous and Fishing Communities in Brazilian Amazon

By Mario Osava
The dirty water is killing more and more fish and ‘Taricaya’ yellow-spotted river turtles every day. In addition, the river is not following its usual cycle, and the water level rises or declines without warning, regardless of the season, complained three Munduruku indigenous law students in the south of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.

Stepping Forward to Lead on Indigenous Rights

By Rukka Sombolinggi
When nine women farmers from the Kendeng community in Central Java encased their feet in cement blocks last year, many indigenous advocates understood how that felt. Dressed in their traditional clothing, these women protested outside the State Palace in Jakarta to block a proposed cement plant that would pollute the rivers flowing through their villages. Their livelihoods as farmers were under threat, as was their cultural heritage.

The Tuxá Indigenous Paradise, Submerged under Water

By Fabiana Frayssinet
The Tuxá indigenous people had lived for centuries in the north of the Brazilian state of Bahia, on the banks of the São Francisco River. But in 1988 their territory was flooded by the Itaparica hydropower plant, and since then they have become landless. Their roots are now buried under the waters of the reservoir.

Marginalised Minorities and Homeless Especially Hard-hit by Mexico’s Quake

By Emilio Godoy
Maricela Fernández, an indigenous woman from the Ñañhú or Otomí people, shows the damages that the Sept. 19 earthquake inflicted on the old house where 10 families of her people were living as squatters, in a neighbourhood in the center-west of Mexico City.

Indigenous Land Conflicts Finally Garner Attention in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
The territorial claims of hundreds of indigenous communities, which extend throughout most of Argentina's vast geography, burst onto the public agenda of a country built by and for descendants of European colonisers and immigrants, accustomed to looking at native people as outsiders.

Refugee Camps “bursting at the seams” in Bangladesh

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
A dramatic increase in the number of refugees fleeing Myanmar is placing a huge strain on already very limited resources in Bangladesh, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

Once Decimated by AIDS, Zimbabwe’s Khoisan Tribe Embraces Treatment

By Jeffrey Moyo
Sixty-seven-year-old Hloniphani Sidingo gives a broad smile while popping out through the gate of a clinic in her village, as she heads home clutching containers of anti-retroviral pills.

Alliance to the Rescue of 33 Million Latin American Rural Poor

By Orlando Milesi
“There are 33 million rural dwellers in Latin America who are still living in extreme poverty and can’t afford a good diet, clothes or education, and we are not going to help them move out of poverty if we use the same strategies that worked 20 years ago,” FAO regional representative Julio Berdegué told IPS.

Forced Evictions, Rights Abuses of Maasai People in Tanzania

By Baher Kamal
Indigenous Maasai people in Loliondo region,Tanzania have been facing new cases of forced evictions and human rights violations, a major international organisation supporting indigenous peoples' struggle for human rights and self-determination warned.

This Is How Indigenous Peoples Help Curb Gas Emissions, End Hunger

By IPS World Desk
A third of global forests, crucial for curbing gas emissions, are primarily managed by indigenous peoples, families, smallholders and local communities, according to the United Nations.

One Earth: Why the World Needs Indigenous Communities to Steward Their Lands

By Manipadma Jena
“Showing them a picture-book crow, I intone ‘kaak’ in Bengali, the State language. While others repeat in chorus, the tribal Santhali first-graders respond with a blank look. They know the crow only as ‘koyo’. They’ll happily roll out glass marbles to count but ask them how many they counted, they remain silent because in their mother tongue, one is mit, two is bariah - very different sounding from the Bengali ek and du.”

A Hostage to Parliament, Temer Sacrifices Indigenous Rights to Save Himself

By Mario Osava
Brazilians now have new reasons to yearn for and at the same time fear the parliamentary system of government. It facilitates quick solutions to political crises such as the one that is currently affecting the country, but it also further empowers reactionary forces and has led to backsliding on gains such as indigenous rights.

World Still Lagging on Indigenous Rights 10 Years After Historic Declaration, UN Experts Warn

By Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, Albert K. Barume and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
The world’s indigenous peoples still face huge challenges a decade after the adoption of an historic declaration on their rights, a group of United Nations experts and specialist bodies has warned. Speaking ahead of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on 9 August, the group says States must put words into action to end discrimination, exclusion and lack of protection illustrated by the worsening murder rate of human rights defenders.
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