Participants from around the world gathered in Rome for the first meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD. The meeting took place on 11-12 February 2013, in conjunction with the 36th session of IFAD’s Governing Council. It marks the beginning of a new chapter in the Fund’s longstanding engagement with indigenous peoples, most of whom live in rural areas and face the dual challenges of poverty and marginalization.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Forum has been several years in the making. In September 2009, the Executive Board laid the groundwork for it by approving IFAD’s Policy on Engagement with Indigenous Peoples. The policy introduced the concept of establishing a forum as a platform for consultation between indigenous peoples’ representatives and IFAD. Then in February 2011, representatives of indigenous peoples’ organizations attended a workshop at IFAD headquarters to establish the structure and objectives of the forum.

Finally, to prepare for the forum’s inaugural meeting, three regional workshops with indigenous peoples’ organizations took place – in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean – during the final months of 2012.

“What really struck me about the regional workshops was the diversity of the peoples involved, even within their regions and countries,” said Antonella Cordone of IFAD’s Policy and Technical Advisory Division, who attended all of the regional consultations. “The diversity of their cultures, their languages, their ways of life and their ancestral knowledge is a treasure for humanity,” she added. “And still, across the three workshops, there were so many commonalities, because indigenous peoples face common challenges to preserving their identity and culture, and keeping control over their territories and resources.”

Common messages across regions
Cordone went on to note that indigenous peoples’ representatives articulated several common messages across the different regions. In each workshop, she said, they emphasized the importance of ensuring respect for their distinctive identities and called for effective participation in all development initiatives on their land.

Participants in the workshops maintained that indigenous peoples’ involvement in the design and implementation of IFAD-supported programmes and projects would make them more successful and sustainable in the long term. In effect, the participants said, self-determination in the realm of rural and agricultural development goes hand in hand with the preservation of indigenous culture and identity.

Attendees at all three workshops also saw IFAD as a facilitator of policy dialogue on indigenous peoples’ issues. They said the Fund had a role to play in raising awareness of these issues within government ministries that implement the projects supported by IFAD in indigenous communities.

Indigenous peoples’ representatives at the workshops further suggested that the best practices developed by IFAD-funded projects should be more widely disseminated. The workshop for Asia and the Pacific, for instance, featured reviews of projects in India and the Philippines, citing successes that may be replicable in other regions – successes that hinge on linking technological and development progress with deeply ingrained indigenous peoples’ knowledge, values and traditions.

Diverse livelihoods
Cordone said the regional workshops highlighted the diversity not only of indigenous peoples’ cultures but of their livelihoods. While there are many small-scale farmers in indigenous communities, she noted, efforts to reduce rural poverty also have to address the needs of indigenous fishers, pastoralists, forest dwellers and artisans.

Moreover, indigenous farmers themselves require support that is tailored to their unique circumstances. In many rural areas, for example, indigenous peoples’ land tenure is tied to community land rather than individual property. In order to succeed, IFAD-funded projects must take that context into account.

Another issue addressed in all of the regions was the need to build greater capacity in IFAD, its partners and indigenous peoples’ organizations, in order to scale up programmes and projects in indigenous peoples’ communities. In addition, participants globally stressed the value of funding from IFAD’s Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility, which provides grants of US$20,000 to US$50,000 to local projects designed and implemented by indigenous peoples and their organizations.

Participants in the three workshops completed their consultations by electing the regional delegates to the first global meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD. With an eye towards balance in terms of geography, gender and means of livelihood, each region choose 10 representatives to come to Rome in February.

A unique platform
In the United Nations system as a whole, there are other vehicles for international discussion and action on the challenges faced by indigenous populations. Notably, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues addresses indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. And preparations are under way for the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to be held in New York in 2014.

But among individual agencies and international financial institutions, the upcoming forum in Rome may be a first. “The Indigenous People’s Forum at IFAD is unique in the UN family,” said Antonella Cordone. “IFAD is the only organization to establish this kind of a platform for dialogue.”