Executive Summary: Working Group on Indigenous Peoples, Gender and Development

Coordinator

Maria Peñaloza (Women’s World Summit Foundation)

Assistance

Sylvia Biss and Anaïs Gfeller (Mandat International)

During the seven sessions of this working group we listened to 21 speakers: 7 men and 14 women, 9 Indigenous and 11 non-indigenous, plus interventions from participants. The speakers who came from all over the world, spoke to us of their experience as Indigenous leaders, as civil servants in the United Nations system, or as development workers with NGOs. The wide variety of topics covered included women, leadership, education, health, land rights and international cooperation. Despite the different fields, all the sessions led to nearly identical conclusions: the need to achieve gender equality, the need of Indigenous Peoples for self-determination, and the need for the industrialized world to stem its consumption of natural resources and to adopt a more human rights based approach to development.

One can draw a parallel between the problems of women and those of Indigenous Peoples. Both groups are victims of marginalization and oppression. Governments are not the only institutions responsible for oppressive practices, but religious institutions as well have been guilty of this as well. Oppressed peoples cannot develop. As stated by Mililani Trask, the right to self-determination is by definition “the right for all peoples to determine their political status necessary to achieve their social, cultural and economic development”. Thus development arises from self-determination, and without the latter there can be no real development. People need full access to their human rights in order to develop. Oppression in the long run leads to low self-esteem. Rebuilding self-esteem is necessary for human development and a prerequisite for material development. Women, who comprise over half the world’s population, still do not have the same access to development means as their male counterparts, and they are underrepresented in positions of power. By denying women full access to their human rights the world deprives itself of the contributions of 50% of its population. Giving women full access to their human rights is in itself a solution to many of the world’s problems. Women will ensure the preservation of Indigenous cultures as they are often the main ones responsible for the transmission of Indigenous knowledge.

Recommendations stemming from individual sessions

To lobby for the ratification of all UN Conventions recognizing the rights of women; to promote empowerment programmes for women; to encourage people in industrialized countries to consume less and lead more ecologically sound lives; to release more funds for women to attended conferences such as World Civil Society Forum and to promote gender equality with respect to access to credit for development, especially regarding amounts of credit. (Session 1)

To support legislation to end racism; to back the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and to support the ratification of the all UN Conventions recognizing the rights of women. The World Civil Society Forum should promote gender equality, i.e. a 50/50 ratio in decision-making positions, in the Permanent Forum and other bodies including the World Bank, the WTO, governments, etc. (Session 2)

To lobby for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to allow children to be taught in their own language; to promote modifications in school curriculums in accordance with local culture and to focus more on human development and the protection of the environment; to support legislation to end the racism that leads to people abandoning their culture. (Session 3)

To support the full participation of Indigenous Peoples in any development project; to lobby against the TRIPS agreement on the patenting of living organisms; to support the right to self-determination of Indigenous Peoples, who must be the ones to decide what model of development they want: when, how and where; to support the full participation of women, who are major holders of traditional knowledge, in development projects. (Session 4)

To support the self-determination and the land-rights of Indigenous Peoples, as a prerequisite for health by growing nutritious food and plants for traditional remedies; to support measures to stem pollution by foreign companies in order to ensure a healthy environment for Indigenous Peoples; to support empowerment programmes for Indigenous women, who are the major food providers and caretakers of their families; to lobby to block the adoption of the TRIPS agreement to prevent the theft of knowledge of medicinal plants; to lobby against trade agreements such as FTAA, which counter food security in developing countries, by flooding them with cheap food imports from developed countries. (Session 5)

To support the land-rights of Indigenous Peoples and the right to self-determination; to include Indigenous Peoples, including Indigenous women, as full participants in all negotiations and decisions concerning any development projects, large or small, on or impacting their territories. (Session 6)

To support the right to self-determination and the land-rights of Indigenous Peoples; to promote a more sustainable model of development in industrialized nations, which consumes fewer natural resources and pollutes less; to include the full participation of Indigenous Peoples, including women, in all aspects of development projects; to lobby for the UN to adopt the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous.(Session 7)

Summary of recommendations for the Working Group

1. To lobby for the ratification of all UN conventions recognizing the rights of women.
2. To promote gender equality in all aspects of development, in particular with regard to the amounts of loans or grants made to women.
3. To aim for 50/50 gender ratios in all positions of power, whether it be governments, civil society or other.
4. To lobby for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
5. To lobby against the Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights agreement (TRIPS) on patenting living organisms.
6. To support the right to self-determination of Indigenous Peoples.
7. To include Indigenous Peoples, including Indigenous women, in all negotiations and decisions concerning any large or small development projects on their territories.
8. To lobby against trade agreements which make it impossible for people to sell their products.
9. To promote a more sustainable model of development which consumes fewer resources and pollutes less.
10. To support legislation which fights racism.
11. To lobby for the UN to adopt the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
12. To back the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
13. Indigenous representatives at international conferences must bring decisions and information back to their communities and make sure that they involve them in all aspects of such conferences.

Individual sessions in this working group

1. Indigenous Peoples, Gender and Development
2. Indigenous women and leadership
3. Indigenous children and the role of traditional education
4. Role of indigenous knowledge in development
5. Land rights and access to natural resources
6. Indigenous peoples, health and traditional medicines
7. Improving international cooperation with indigenous peoples
8. Wrap-up Session

Presenters

Elly Pradervand, Pelpina Ohorella Sahureka, Anne-Marie Mukwazanzo, Fati Ali Abdoulaye, Helen Sayers, Angela Brown, Julia Damiana Ramos Sánchez, Patricia Borraz, Diego Gradis, Ricardo Cox Aranibar, Ruben Ortiz, Leonor Zalabata, Elizabeth Reichel, Mililani Trask, Talkalit Aboubacrine, Nafissatou Tall, Adelard Blackman, Alejandra Pero, Marc Steinlin, David Lin, Urs Thomas, Lee Swepson, Marc Rwabahengo, Denise Allen, Moana Sinclair, Catarina Eleuterio Gomez Ixmata, Marta Llanos, Anna Pinto