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Friday, November 13, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Indigenous Rights
CLIMATE CHANGE: Arctic Is the Canary in the Coalmine
Nearly 1,000 scientists and representatives of indigenous peoples from 16 countries have braved a major winter storm to share their findings and concerns about the rapidly warming Arctic region at the International Arctic Change conference in Quebec City.PARAGUAY: Strides in Human Rights
The government’s recognition of the human rights violations committed by the dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989) was the most outstanding achievement this year, according to a new Human Rights Report on Paraguay.CLIMATE CHANGE: Forests Debate Dominates Talks
The debate over reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation is dominating the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Poznan, Poland, Dec. 1-12. At issue is the best way to deal with the 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation.CHINA: Relations With EU May Suffer Over Dalai Lama Visit
China has attacked the Dalai Lama over his latest diplomatic forays in Europe, calling the exiled Tibetan leader a separatist and a "political hooligan" and has warned that China-EU relations may suffer.ENVIRONMENT: Native Peoples Out in Cold at Warming Meet
Global efforts to combat climate change will lead nowhere as long as the indigenous peoples' representatives have no say in discussions to lay out future plans, say activists who are attending the international conference on climate change being held in the Polish city of Poznan this week.CANADA: Native Rights Concerns Cloud 2010 Games
A coalition of indigenous elders, social justice activists and community organisers is voicing opposition to the upcoming Winter Olympics, promising to continue their protests up to and throughout the 2010 games.
LATIN AMERICA: Indigenous Reporting – Between Activism and Professionalism
Indigenous journalism would seem to be in a stage similar to what environmentalism experienced a few decades ago: born of necessity and protest, it is caught in a constant state of tension between activism and professionalism.RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Aboriginal's Death in Custody Case – No Justice?
Although supporters have expressed satisfaction with the six year jail term handed down recently to Lex Wotton for his role in the 2004 Palm Island riot - sparked by the death in police custody of aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee - they say that justice has yet to be served.LATIN AMERICA: Indigenous Journalists Plant a Seed
Journalists from indigenous communities in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Guatemala and Bolivia came together in La Paz to take the first step towards creating a network to work together and support each other.PARAGUAY: Uncontacted Ayoreo Threatened by Deforestation
Large swathes of native forest have been turned into pasture land in the northern part of Paraguay’s semi-arid Chaco region, as large Brazilian cattle ranchers expand their property in this country.RIGHTS-US: Natives Hope Obama Will Be Their President, Too
During his election campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly said that he cared about the issues facing Native American communities and insisted that they could trust him - pledges that Native leaders are now watching closely as the president-elect appoints a new cabinet and fills other key federal posts.POLITICS: Decentralisation, a Double-Edged Sword for Women
Decentralised governments have often been presented as a formula for strengthening democracy and citizen participation, and giving women greater access to power. But experiences like that of Eufrosina Cruz, who was denied the right to run for mayor of her Oaxaca village, on the argument of "uses and customs" of her indigenous community, show that this is not always true.
RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: When Terror Wears a Uniform
Herminia Lizarazo did not know what to respond when her seven-year-old grandson told her "Grandma, I want to know what the army is for." The boy, whose two uncles belong to the army in Colombia, wanted to wear a military costume for Halloween.CLIMATE CHANGE: Talks Could Learn From Indigenous Groups
As the United Nations readies for a key climate change meeting in Poland next month, a London-based human rights group warns that any new deal on global warming would be seriously compromised if the most vulnerable groups, specifically indigenous peoples, are shut out of the negotiations.
PERU: My Mining Deposits Are Under Your House
"Just imagine you’re told you have to leave your house, your livestock, the graves of your loved ones, and then they take you to an unfamiliar place without even asking you what you think about it. How would you feel?" asks Eduardo Sueldo, the local environment delegate in a highlands village in southern Peru.POLITICS-CHINA: Tibetan Movement May Dump ‘Middle Way’
Eight months after Tibet’s capital of Lhasa was rocked by violent anti-Chinese protests positions have hardened, casting gloom on prospects for progress on the Tibetan stalemate.ENVIRONMENT-BURMA: Conflict Threatens Karen Biodiversity
On top of 60 years of military occupation, the Karen people of Burma are now facing severe impairment of their environmental and cultural foundations, say activists.
LATIN AMERICA: Elusive Right to Land Inflames Indigenous Protests
In the past two decades Latin America has made advances in signing international and national instruments that recognise and protect the rights of indigenous peoples. The problem is that these laws are not always heeded by governments, and the lack of enforcement has fuelled protests.
CULTURE-CHINA: ‘Shangri La’ Under Tourist Siege
The ancient Tea and Horse Caravan Road has come back to life. On top of sturdy short-legged horses, dark-skinned men wrapped in furs are making their arduous way up the narrow paths of the silver-clad Dragon Jade Snow Mountain.MIDEAST: Arabs Uneasy About Joining Israeli Army
The Israeli government has begun to actively promote voluntary army service for Israeli Arabs. The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, is meanwhile considering plans to make civil service compulsory for all Israeli citizens, including Israeli Arabs.BIODIVERSITY: The Real Price of Farmed Salmon
Salmon aquaculture is devastating the world's oceans and an international coalition of scientists, Canadian First Nations and tourism operators have called for a global moratorium.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The planet's roughly 350 million indigenous peoples took notable steps on the international stage in the last decade. They got the world's governments to agree to create a body to represent them at the United Nations, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and to appoint a special rapporteur responsible for their human rights. In 2007 a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was approved by the UN. Yet the living conditions of most "tribal", "aboriginal", "native" or "first" peoples remain precarious. IPS, with its network of contributors at the UN and linked to indigenous communities worldwide, is committed to tracking the world community's efforts to do justice to the rights and aspirations of these peoples, with a special current focus on Latin America's 40 million rural indigenous peoples.
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