NEW YORK, 9 August 2010: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon monday urged the world to step up efforts to improve living conditions of the planet’s indigenous communities and to protect them, saying they continued to suffer discrimination and poverty despite a United Nations declaration that aims to promote their rights.
– Indigenous peoples still experience racism, poor health and disproportionate poverty, Mr. Ban said in a message to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
He pointed out that the first-ever UN report on the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in January this year came up with alarming statistics. In some countries, indigenous peoples are 600 times more likely to contract tuberculosis than the general population. In others, an indigenous child can expect to die 20 years before his or her non-indigenous compatriots.
Mr. Ban said that the landmark UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in 2007, laid out a framework for governments to use in strengthening relationships with indigenous peoples and protecting their human rights.
– Since then, we have seen more governments working to redress social and economic injustices, through legislation and other means, and indigenous peoples’ issues have become more prominent on the international agenda than ever before, Mr. Ban added.
In her statement, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, stressed that the gap between the principles of the declaration and the reality remains wide, with indigenous peoples continuing to suffer discrimination, marginalization in health and education, extreme poverty, disregard for their environmental concerns, displacement from their traditional lands and exclusion from participation in decision-making processes.
– It is particularly disconcerting that those who work to correct these wrongs are, all too often, persecuted for their human rights advocacy, she said.
Ms. Pillay, however, pointed out that: – We have cause to celebrate the progress made in turning human rights into a reality for indigenous peoples, but this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is also an occasion to recall that there is no room for complacency.
The focus of this year’s International Day is indigenous filmmakers, who have given the world insights into their communities, cultures and history. The filmmakers have chronicled the belief systems and philosophies of indigenous communities, as well as their daily lives.
The work of filmmakers from indigenous communities around the world was being highlighted to mark the International Day, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) noted. Four such films were shown Monday at UN Headquarters in New York.
One of the films, Sikumi ( On The Ice), by director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, tells the story of an Inuit hunter who drives his dog team out on the frozen Arctic Ocean off the coast of Alaska in search of seals, but instead becomes a witness to murder.
Another film, Curte-Nillas, from Sweden, is a short animation on a superhero’s efforts to protect and defend the rights of the Sámi people in a struggle with authorities. Marangmotxingo Mïrang or From The Ikpeng Children To The World, from Brazil, and Taino Indians Counted Out Of Existence, from Puerto Rico, explore cultural heritage and revive hidden histories.
