At least 43 percent of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world today are endangered. Many of these belong to indigenous peoples and if something doesn’t change soon, UNESCO predicts that we will lose as many as 3,000 indigenous languages by the end of this century.
In an effort to raise public awareness of this threat to the world’s cultural and linguistic diversity, the UN General Assembly has proclaimed 2019 to be the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
New York/Rome (FAO)* – FAO has hailed a landmark United Nations General Assembly resolution adopting the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.
Progress that destroys traditional culture, language, land and human heritage “is not development, but willful destruction”, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights on 19 September 2018 said, in defence of indigenous peoples everywhere.
World Bank/Yosef Hadar | Indigenous woman looks out of window. Brazil. | Photo from UN News.
Kate Gilmore’s comments were followed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli Corpuz, who expressed concern at a “drastic increase” in attacks against indigenous peoples, and efforts to criminalize them.
Indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable populations in the world. This International Day is an opportunity to raise public awareness of their precarious situation, particularly in relation to migration, which is the Day’s theme in 2018.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO
Migration influences the way of life of many indigenous peoples, whether these be nomadic pastoral societies who follow the transhumance calendar, such as the Red Fulani cattle herders in West Africa whose seasonal migration covers several thousand kilometres, or hunter-gatherer peoples who travel several hundred square kilometres, in the Kalahari Desert and the Congo Basin, for example, in order to benefit from the unique resources of their ecosystem and to preserve a delicate balance.
There are an estimated 370 million indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries. They make up less than 5 per cent of the world’s population, but account for 15 per cent of the poorest. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.*
These indigenous Tule women in Colombia’s Choco region prepare cotton to be used in making traditional clothes and material. They have only recently been able to return to their land, but damage to the environment and the presence of armed groups makes their future uncertain. The land and their connection to it is very important in Tule culture. Photo UNHCR/B. Heger.
ROME, Aug 10 2017 (IPS)– 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.
Indigenous Peoples can provide answers to food insecurity and climate change challenges. Photo: FAO
Moreover, indigenous foods are also particularly nutritious, climate-resilient and well-adapted to their environment, making them a good source of nutrients in climate challenged areas, reports the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
ROME, Aug 7 2017 (IPS) – Over the centuries, Indigenous peoples who have in-depth and locally rooted knowledge of the natural world , have been increasingly dispossessed of their lands, territories and resources and have lost control over their own way of life.
Traditional indigenous lands and territories contain some 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity and indigenous peoples have a crucial role in managing natural resources.
31 July 2017 – A group of United Nations experts has urged the Government of the Philippines to immediately address reported human rights violations, including murder, threats against indigenous peoples and the summary execution of children.
Children play outside their home at a shelter in the Philippines. Photo: UNICEF/Joshua Estey
“Attacks are spiralling against many groups in society and we are making an urgent appeal for Government action,” said a joint statement issued by Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children.
ROME, May 26 2017 (IPS) – Asia is home to the largest number of indigenous peoples on Earth, with an estimated 260 million of a total of 370 million original inhabitants worldwide. In spite of their huge number-equaling half of the combined population of Europe– they are often victims of discrimination and denial of their rights.
Indigenous women join protests for land rights in Asia. Credit: IWGIA
With its 4.4 billion inhabitants, Asia is, in fact, one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world. “Indigenous peoples live in all the Asian countries,” said to IPS Signe Leth, Senior Advisor on women and land rights in Asia at the International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA).
However, Asian indigenous peoples face problems such as denial of self-determination, the loss of control over their land and natural resources, discrimination and marginalisation, heavy assimilation pressure and violent repression by state security forces, she explained.
ROME, May 3 2017 (IPS) – The cultures and very survival of indigenous peoples in Africa are seriously threatened. They are ignored, neglected and fall victims of land grabbing and land dispossession caused by extractive industries, agribusiness and other forms of business operations.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 