The United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed on 9 August each year to promote the rights of the world’s indigenous populations. This event also recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous peoples make to advance world issues such as environmental protection.
There are more than 370 million self-identified indigenous and tribal peoples and ethnic minorities in some 70 countries, and they are among the poorest and most marginalized people in the world. An estimated 70 per cent live in Asia and the Pacific. In Latin America alone there are more than 400 different indigenous peoples, each with a distinct language and culture.
Several recent studies show that the poverty gap between indigenous peoples and other rural populations is increasing in some parts of the world. In addition, indigenous peoples generally score lower on the Human Development Index – the measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standard of living for countries worldwide. This is particularly true for indigenous women. Indigenous peoples are often disempowered by a lack of recognition of their cultural and socio-political systems, which undermines their ability to shape their own future.
Based on a close relationship with their natural environment, indigenous peoples’ values often entail a holistic vision of well-being that emphasizes harmony with nature, self-governance within their communities, community interests over individual interests, security of land and resource rights, and cultural identity and dignity. Hence, they themselves relate poverty to insecurity over territories and natural resources, environmental degradation, cultural disintegration and lack of social harmony. Yet material poverty is rampant and of great concern.
Listening and learning
Since its inception in 1978, IFAD has devoted more than 30 per cent of its programmes and projects in Asia and Latin America to working with indigenous peoples.
IFAD believes that indigenous peoples, like all human beings, should be free from poverty and marginalization and be able to lead the kind of lives they value. Much of IFAD’s support to indigenous peoples has been directed at developing their livelihoods and strengthening their institutions, as well as empowering them to influence the decisions that affect their lives.
“The most important lesson we have learned is that in order to enable indigenous peoples to pursue their own self-determined development, we must have the humility to actively listen to them,” says Antonella Cordone, IFAD’s Coordinator for Indigenous and Tribal Issues.
“We need to listen to what poverty means for indigenous peoples and how it affects their well-being. And indigenous peoples have taught us that for them, poverty is more than low income. It is about historical processes of dispossession and discrimination. It is about a lack of respect for their political, cultural and economic rights. And it is about decisions on territories and on the use and misuse of natural resources being imposed, without the participation of those whose livelihoods are at stake, and without their free, prior and informed consent.”
Cordone says that development strategies in indigenous communities need to be guided by a holistic vision that includes economic growth, empowerment, sustainable management of natural resources, and recognition and protection of their social, economic and cultural rights.
Based on this experience, IFAD has observed that capacity-building, self-determined development and ownership can be considerably enhanced by entrusting indigenous communities and their institutions with the direct management of resources and funds.
IFAD is developing, and should soon adopt, a new policy that will enhance its development effectiveness in its engagement with indigenous peoples’ communities in rural areas. The policy defines principles of engagement with these communities that are consistent with international standards, in particular the United Nations Development Group Guidelines on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues, and with IFAD’s mandate and Strategic Framework. It draws on the more than 30 years of experience IFAD has in working with indigenous peoples in rural areas of developing countries, and on the overall experience of indigenous peoples and other partners.
| In September 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This historic achievement validates the struggle of indigenous peoples worldwide for human rights and equality. It provides them with an international instrument to better preserve their cultures and heritage, and to strengthen their ability to shape and direct their own destinies, both collectively and as individuals. |
The Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility
In 2006, IFAD’s Executive Board approved the transfer to IFAD of a special small grants facility that had been established within the World Bank in 2003. This was in recognition of IFAD’s experience in working with indigenous peoples and knowledge of their issues. The objective of the facility is to build a direct partnership with indigenous peoples to enable them and their communities to design, approve and implement grassroots development projects based on their own perspectives. The facility is now called the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF).
IPAF is an innovative funding instrument that indigenous communities can use to find their own solutions to the challenges they face. It supports the aspirations of indigenous peoples by funding micro-projects that build on their culture, organizations, identity, knowledge, livelihoods, biodiversity and natural resources, intellectual property and human rights.
Through small grants that range from US$10,000 to US$30,000, IPAF supports projects that
- include indigenous peoples in development operations
- improve their access to key decision-making processes
- empower them to find solutions to the challenges they face
- promote collaboration in the public and private spheres
In El Salvador, for example, an indigenous women’s group in the Montañona region has received an IPAF grant to revive the traditional skill of weaving, which once played an important role in the local economy and culture. With a grant of US$16,000, the project is teaching adult women and young men and women different weaving techniques. It is also supporting them in designing and creating products such as scarves, tablecloths, placemats and bags for local and international markets.
During six months of training workshops, the participants also learned how to dye the linen they had woven using natural substances such as indigo, almond and mahogany sawdust. They produced a colour pallet to promote local authentic colours.
The women who participated in the project workshops discovered that their indigenous background influenced their skills as artisans and that learning an ancient craft influenced their identity. The workshops helped these new artisans become more knowledgeable about their past and about their culture.
