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Press release | 09.08.2016

Indigenous People's Right to Education

International Day on the World's Indigenous Peoples on 9 August 2016 - Joint press release

Frankfurt am Main, 9 August 2016. The 2016 International Day on the World's Indigenous Peoples is devoted to the right of indigenous peoples to education protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ILO Convention 169 and of course by Article 14 of the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Sustainable Development Goal 4, adopted in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, also demands equal access to all levels of education and vocational training while SDG 4.7 considers culture to be a fundamental and transformative dimension of sustainable development.

We cite the UN backgrounder on the Indigenous Day 2016: "The education sector is a particular arena that not only mirrors and condenses the historical abuses, discrimination and marginalization suffered by indigenous peoples, but also reflects their continued struggle for equality and respect for their rights as peoples and as individuals."

Different cultural values and spiritual traditions are the basis of different relations between human beings and nature that have to be fully considered and respected. As regards the continued struggle we would like to refer to three cases among many:

In Peru in the rainforest region of Loreto indigenous communities object against the transformation of the Zona Reservada Yaguas into a National Park that would deny the access of the indigenous peoples to their ancestral land. The country is not only the basis of their livelihood, but also the basis of their traditional knowledge and teaching. They demand the creation of a Reserva Comunal under community leadership. We fully support this demand.

In Suriname on 9 August the state and the indigenous communities celebrate the 10 th anniversary of the National Day on Indigenous Peoples, a public holiday to express the respect towards Suriname's indigenous peoples. The day indicates that indigenous organisations asserted many years against violence, oppression and persecution of indigenous peoples on their own land. We congratulate our indigenous partners for this success in one of their many struggles.

In Brazil environmental authorities have recently rejected the licence for the hydroelectric mega-project São Luiz do Tapajós because studies on the impact on the environment and the local indigenous Mundurukú communities were missing. This example shows that resistance can be successful!

We - INFOE and the city network Climate Alliance - therefore call on the international community to watch out, listen to, and respect the voices and demands of indigenous peoples. Furthermore pledges and promises must be translated into action. We therefore call on the European Union and national governments, that have not yet done so, to ratify the ILO Convention 169, to contribute to the protection of indigenous territories, to protect their culture and to ensure the right on education. Only on the basis of guaranteed rights and the legally protected access to their territories and resources indigenous peoples can continue to contribute in their specific and significant way to sustainable development.

As regards the issue of the protection of climate and forests, a matter where we work together for years, we understand that following all these talks and written documents in the course of the international negotiations we now have to work together to see to indigenous practices, concepts and ideas being protected, strengthened and realized on the ground.

Contacts

Thomas Brose
Climate Alliance
T. +49 (0)69 - 717139 -31
t.brose(at)climatealliance.org

Elke Rothkop-Falley
INFOE
T. + 49 (0)221 - 73928 71
elke(at)infoe.de

Climate Alliance and its 1700 member municipalities have been acting for more than 25 years in partnership with indigenous rainforest peoples for the benefit of the global climate. Recognising the impact our lifestyles can have on the world's most vulnerable people and places, Climate Alliance pairs local action with global responsibility. The network fosters cooperation with indigenous peoples, runs awareness raising campaigns and develops tools for climate action planning.

INFOE has been supporting indigenous organis ations in the defense of their environment, rights and cultures since 1987. With its activities, INFOE follows the demands and needs of its indigenous partners. The current focuses are the protection of climate, forests and territories, indigenous rights and SDGs, the UN Principles on Business and Human Rights, hydropower mega-projects.
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