Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to welcome you to IFAD’s workshop on establishing an indigenous peoples’ forum.

Many of you have travelled great distances to be here with us today, and we are privileged to have you join us.

In our 2011 Rural Poverty Report, we wrote that indigenous peoples:  “Are often disproportionately held back by disadvantages rooted in inequalities… virtually everywhere, they suffer from discrimination, violation of their rights from mainstream social, economic and political processes… In addition,

indigenous peoples suffer from precarious control over their natural resources base, particularly in the face of commercial interests.”

Given IFAD’s mandate to assist and enable poor rural people to overcome poverty, combating these injustices is central to our work.

But we also recognize indigenous peoples as a vast well of untapped potential, with unique forms of knowledge, practices and understanding of ecosystem management.

 As I have said before, indigenous peoples’ ancestral memory is a storehouse full of thousands of different species capable of responding to new challenges and climatic conditions – just as they have done for centuries before.

It is a great loss – not just for indigenous peoples themselves, but for all of us – if this fertile knowledge base is left to lie fallow.

With this in mind, IFAD approved our policy on engagement with indigenous peoples in September of 2009.  The policy builds on the cultural heritage and identity of indigenous peoples – and approaches these qualities as an asset and a source of untapped economic potential.

The policy contains a number of principles for enhancing our development effectiveness, including the principle of free, prior and informed consent. The policy is based upon our experience on the ground and was developed in extensive consultation with leaders of indigenous peoples, some of whom are here today.

All of our work at IFAD seeks to go beyond mere principle, and to focus instead on how these principles can lead to concrete and sustained engagement. 

The 2009 policy envisioned the establishment of a forum as one of the instruments by which these principles are translated into action.

In our view, the forum will have three main objectives:

• First, to share and discuss ideas for IFAD’s engagement with indigenous peoples among staff, member states and representatives of indigenous peoples.
• Second, to consult on rural development and poverty reduction.
• Third, to promote the participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations in IFAD’s activities at the country, regional and international levels.

The work we do at the forum will be important, but we all agree that it is just one step in a long-term commitment to reaching our dual goals of equity and economic opportunity for indigenous peoples.   And, it is not the only step we have taken.  Since 2009, we have:

• Updated our operational guidelines to comply with the policy;
• We have developed a series of country technical notes to provide ready access to information and better equip IFAD staff with knowledge and guidance on indigenous peoples’ issues;
• And we have strengthened the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility. This is a dedicated programme that provides community-based grants for development projects.

If you will indulge me a moment, I would like to say a special word of thanks to the members of the IFAD Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility Board who are here with us today: Mirna Cunningham, Joan Carling Wolde Tadesse, and Vicky Tauli-Corpuz – who served on the Board until recently for the last four years.  Kyrham Nongkynrih, who was unable to join us for this workshop, has also been a major contributor.  

All board members serve on a voluntary basis, yet their contributions to date have been remarkable.  Since 2007, we’ve approved 73 micro projects in 38 countries.  Today is yet another step in that critically important effort.

Our main instrument for outreach to peoples is lending, and I am pleased to report that in the past seven years, about 20 per cent of IFAD’s annual lending has supported initiatives for indigenous peoples. 

I believe – and I am confident you will agree – that this must continue to be a focus of our work.

Our goal, as always, is to work with indigenous peoples as partners and co-managers.  The reason for this is simple: we have found over thirty-plus years that this is the most successful approach.  We’ve also learned that the best results are achieved when pro-poor research blends traditional knowledge and practices with modern scientific approaches.  All of these lessons should guide our work going forward.

And we must place special emphasis on creating opportunities for the young people of indigenous communities.  Theirs is a special challenge: to build a bridge between their rich cultural heritage and the demands and opportunities of today’s world.  As was described in the Kari-Oca Declaration of 1992, they must be able to “walk to the future in the footprint of their ancestors.”

There is no question in my mind that they can – but it is up to us to help provide the tools they need to free themselves from the bonds of poverty and create the conditions where success is most likely.

That is a tall order.  It is why this workshop and the forum that will follow are so very important.  We must listen to each other, learn from each other, and work together – today, tomorrow, and many days into the future.

We expect this workshop to provide guidelines and clear direction on how the forum will operate. And since the forum is intended to be a process, rather than simply an event that takes place biennially, we look to you, the workshop participants, to develop a “road map” for the next two years.  As you know, the first global meeting is expected to take place in conjunction with IFAD’s Governing Council in 2013.

Last year, I received a letter from the Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues.  Mr. Carlos Mamani wrote to congratulate us on approving the policy and to encourage us to establish the forum, saying that organizations like IFAD can make a real difference in enabling indigenous peoples to lead their own development.

Quoting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mr. Mamani wrote:  “We need development that is underpinned by the values of reciprocity, solidarity and collectivity.  And we need development that allows indigenous peoples to exercise their right to self-determination through participation in decision-making on an equal basis.”

Let these be our goals.  And while we are honoured by Mr. Mamani’s trust, we are also aware that it comes with great responsibility.  At this workshop and the forum to follow, we will do our best to fulfil it.

I wish all of you great success in this meeting and in the work ahead. 

Thank you.

Rome, 17 February 2011