[ Let me give it some thought. My first idea is to store long files
in the "filelist" archives at TAMVM1 as I've been doing with other
such material and to just announce their presence there, as I've
done in the case of Lubicon material. I'd be interested in getting
the thoughts of others. Thanks. --Gary (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ]
Please note that I am neither the author or the copyright holder of
this material, which is produced by the UN. I am only the poster.
Anyone wishing to reprint substantial portions should contact the UN
DPI (United Nations, New York, NY 10017) or the UNIC in Sydney.
-- Charles Scheiner, East Timor Action Network/US and other Asia/
Pacific/Indigenous/Pacifist interests.
Contact me at cscheiner@igc.apc.org.
==================================================
This information is provided by the United Nations Information
Centre in Sydney for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
For further information, please call 61-2-283-1144 or email
unic@peg.apc.org.
Forty-seventh General Assembly GA/8447
Plenary 10 December
1992 82nd Meeting (AM)
OPENING OF INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
IS MARKED AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY CEREMONY
Secretary-General and Others Call for World-wide
Effort To Protect Human Rights, Preserve Cultural
Authenticity
"Unity through diversity is the only true and enduring
unity", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali told the General
Assembly today as it met to celebrate the opening of the
International Year of Indigenous People.
The meeting was directly addressed to indigenous people but
was of equal concern to all the world, he added. Lack of
assistance to endangered cultures should be regarded as a
violation of human rights, and there could be no protection of
human rights without preserving cultural authenticity. He called
on the international community to be more vigilant and to sound an
alarm as soon as an indigenous culture was in danger.
The President of the Assembly, Stoyan Ganev (Bulgaria),
reaffirmed the United Nations commitment to bringing the benefits
of peace, human rights and development to the world's indigenous
people. The test of the success or failure of the Organization as
an effective instrument of peace, stability and progress would be
how it dealt with the daily problems of human existence.
The representative of Canada, who introduced the draft
resolution proclaiming 1993 the International Year of Indigenous
People, said that although it was the appropriate time for the
draft to be introduced, that action would not itself ensure the
rightful place of indigenous people in the world family. There
was need for continued involvement of the Working Group on
Indigenous Populations to ensure the development of the
partnership between indigenous people and the international
community.
Also speaking in today's debate were the representatives of
Brazil, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Nicaragua, Chile and
Norway.
Following the plenary debate, Antoine Blanca,
Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights and Coordinator of the
International Year for the World's Indigenous People, opened a
special ceremony to inaugurate the International Year. Referring
to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous People, he
said the Fund aimed to reach indigenous people directly. Its
objective was to raise $500,000; to date, $300,000 had been
received or pledged. Needed resources which could not be financed
by the Fund would have to be found elsewhere, and appeals would be
made to the private sector and non-governmental organizations.
Erika-Irene Daes, Chairman and Rapporteur of the Working
Group on Indigenous Populations, declared that indigenous people
could be a vanguard of democracy and social justice in all
countries in which they lived. She reminded delegates that in
some countries, indigenous people were the majority of the
population, yet had not been able to enjoy any effective control
over their own destiny.
The Vice-President of the Assembly, Roberto Mayorga-Cortes
(Nicaragua), announced that action on the draft resolution on the
International Year of the World's Indigenous People would be taken
tomorrow, 11 December, in the afternoon.
The special ceremony was to be resumed at 3 p.m. today when
further statements by representatives of indigenous people were to
be heard.
The plenary meets at 3 p.m. today, in Conference Room 3, to
begin consideration of the Law of the Sea.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this morning, on the occasion of
Human Rights
Day, to inaugurate the International Year of the World's
Indigenous People. The opening ceremony, which will feature
indigenous speakers from around the world, will be preceded by a
plenary meeting during which the President of the General
Assembly, the Secretary-General and representatives of Member
States will speak.
The Assembly will take action on a 40-Power draft resolution
which would have it proclaim 1993 to be the "International Year of
the World's Indigenous People", with the theme of "Indigenous
people -- a new partnership". The Assembly would also appeal to
all Governments to contribute to the Voluntary Fund for the
International Year opened by the Secretary-General.
Also by the draft resolution, the Assembly would note the
continuing need to improve the dissemination of data on the
development needs of indigenous people and stress that
governmental and intergovernmental activities should take into
account those needs, as well as the need to make full use of the
contributions indigenous communities can make to sustainable
development.
The Assembly would also stress the relevance of the
recommendations contained in the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) Agenda 21 for the solution of
problems faced by indigenous communities. It would request the
Commission on Human Rights to ask the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations and the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination
and Protection of Minorities, to complete consideration of the
draft universal declaration of indigenous rights and to submit
their report to the Commission.
The draft resolution is sponsored by Angola, Australia,
Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Central African
Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cuba,
Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Gambia, Ghana,
Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Rwanda,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Samoa, Sweden, Togo and Uruguay.
Antoine Blanca, Coordinator of the International Year and
Erika-Irene Daes, Chairman of the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations, will open the special ceremony. Indigenous speakers
from the Arctic, Western and Eastern Europe, North, Central and
South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia and the Pacific will
address the ceremony.
The indigenous speakers are Marcial Arias Garcia, President
of the Kunas Unidos por Nabguana; Thomas Banyacya, Hopi Elder;
Venerable Bimal Bhikkhu, Asia; Evdokia Gaer, Secretary-General,
International League of Indigenous Nations and Ethnic Groups; Lars
Emil Johansen, Premier, Greenland Homerule Government; Poka
Laenui, President, Pacific Asia Council of Indigenous Peoples;
Chief Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation; William
Means, President, International Indian Treaty Council; Chief Ovide
Mercredi, Assembly of First Nations.
Other indigenous speakers scheduled to make statements are
Jose Santos Millao, First Director, National Organization of the
Mapuche People; Giichi Nomura, President, Ainu Association of
Hokkaido; Lois O'Donoghue, Chairman, Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Commission; Moringe L. Parkipuny, Korongoro Integrated
Peoples Oriented to Conservation; Noeli Pocaterra, Movimiento
Indio por la Identidad Nacional; Tamati Reedy, National Maori
Congress; Donald Rojas, President, World Council of Indigenous
Peoples; Irja Seurujarvi-Kari, President of Nordic Sami Council;
Mary Simon, Inuit Tapirisat of Canada; Anderson Mutang Urud,
Sarawak Indigenous Peoples' Alliance; and Davi Yanomami, Yanomami
leader.
Statement by Assembly President
General Assembly President STOYAN GANEV (Bulgaria) said that
today, Human Rights Day, marked the inauguration of the International
Year of the World's Indigenous People to be observed throughout
1993. The Year provided an opportunity for the international
community to focus on and respond to some of the needs of indigenous
peoples.
Approximately 300 million indigenous peoples inhabited some
70 Member States of the United Nations, he said. The term
"indigenous peoples" was used because those peoples were the first
to live on their land, beginning hundreds or even thousands of
years ago. Today, after conquest, occupation, forced assimilation
and enslavement, followed by neglect, some of the oldest societies
in the world were among the most vulnerable. The international
community was increasingly coming to appreciate that so-called
"civilization" had much to learn from so-called "primitive
peoples", but the question was whether the lesson would be learned
in time. Indigenous people lived in some of the most fragile
environments of the planet: tropical forests, drylands and
deserts, the Arctic region and mountainous areas. Their special
knowledge of the environment and of nature was acknowledged by
calling them the "guardians" or "caretakers of the earth".
However, he continued, political economic and social
pressures were rapidly threatening the very survival of the
indigenous people. Their patterns of family and social structure
had been disrupted, their lifestyle had been denigrated, their
protection had not been a priority. Instead of following
indigenous people's example of how to love and live with their
land, too often nations had coveted and expropriated that land.
Instead of using the diversity of indigenous cultures to develop a
sense of tolerance for all people, too often they had blindly
tried to integrate them into the dominant society. Instead of
being inspired by indigenous people's values, customs, heritage
and ability to adapt to their environment, too often the world had
denied them their human rights.
But today things had changed from the 1920s, when American
Indians had appealed in vain to the League of Nations, or from the
early years of the United Nations, when appeals by indigenous
representatives were not acted upon, he said.
It was important to recognize the work of many dedicated
individuals and organizations, within and outside the United
Nations system, who have contributed to a resolution of those
problems, and to acknowledge as well the participation of
indigenous peoples in the work of the world Organization, he said.
The first international conference of non-governmental
organizations on indigenous issues was held in Geneva in 1977,
followed in 1981 by another such meeting devoted to indigenous
people and the land. Those gatherings, together with a United
Nations study by a special rapporteur, influenced the
establishment in 1982 of the United Nations Working Group on
Indigenous Populations.
In 1985, he continued, the General Assembly established the
United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, to
provide financial assistance to representatives of indigenous
communities and organizations attending Working Group sessions.
Regrettably, to date only eight Governments and three
non-governmental organizations had contributed to the Fund. The
United Nations specialized agencies, notably the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) had dealt with issues relating to
indigenous people, and the human rights mechanisms reviewed
allegations of specific violations.
In recent times many Heads of State, Government ministers and
delegates had addressed the Assembly on the subject of the "new
world order" and the revitalization of the United Nations, he
continued. But the world was composed first and foremost of
people. Ultimately, it would be how the Organization dealt with
the daily problems of human existence that would determine its
success or failure as an effective instrument of world peace,
stability and progress. He called for a commitment to specific
actions in the coming year and beyond to bring to the world's
indigenous people the full benefits of peace, human rights and
development. (For full text of statement see Press Release
GA/8448-HR/3735.)
Statement by Secretary-General
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said it was no
coincidence that
the International Year of the World's Indigenous People was being
launched on Human Rights Day. Many indigenous people faced
economic and social disadvantages in the societies in which they
lived. They were often among the poorest, worst housed and least
paid. For centuries they had lived at the margins of national and
international life. Some had continued to live in traditional
ways and many had been outcasts in their own lands, often denied
citizenship. Often their lands had been allocated to foreign
settlers and in many countries were confined to inaccessible and
hostile regions.
He said that today, there was a welcome change at national and
international levels. Moreover, indigenous people were now active in
seeking improvements in their situations. There had also been
changes in many countries that benefited the indigenous people with
more and more Governments recognizing the multicultural character of
their societies. The year 1993 would help to focus the United
Nations system on the special situation of indigenous people and
their needs in areas such as health, education, development and
environment. The emphasis must be on practical actions in helping
the indigenous people.
The commitment of the United Nations system to the cause of
the indigenous people, the Secretary-General said, was
long-standing and went back to the time before the creation of the
United Nations itself. Since 1919, the year it was created, ILO
had defended the rights of the indigenous people. In 1953, ILO
published a study on indigenous people, and in 1957 it adopted the
first international legal instruments to protect the rights of
peoples whose ways of life and existence were being threatened.
He said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had encouraged cultural expression
and activities by the indigenous people. A major turning point
came in 1970 when the Subcommittee on Prevention of Discrimination
and Protection of Minorities recommended that a detailed study be
made of discrimination against indigenous people. The report,
which provided information and recommendations for United Nations
action, helped galvanize the United Nations system. For the past
decade, the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations
had considered international standards and guidelines for the
treatment of indigenous people. Some indigenous people's
organizations were asking how the United Nations should now
proceed. What the mechanisms should be was a matter for further
discussion.
The Secretary-General said he had set up a Voluntary Fund for
the International Year to provide practical assistance to
indigenous people. He appealed to the international community
organizations and individuals to contribute to the Fund. Without
the financial commitment of Governments, the Year would not be the
success hoped for. The crucial role of the United Nations was to
promote and protect the human rights of indigenous people. The
way in which indigenous people were treated by States would be a
major test of the seriousness of the international community's
commitment to a genuinely universal human rights regime. The
adoption of a declaration on the rights of indigenous people could
be another milestone in the long struggle by indigenous people for
their rights.
He said agreeing on the text of the Declaration and reaching
consensus on the treatment of indigenous people would not be easy.
Their situations varied widely. Some wished to maintain their
culture while others wished to integrate into the mainstream of
society. Similarly, the policies adopted by states varied widely.
Practice, attitudes and legal frameworks were different in
different countries. The balancing of individual and community
rights was not easy. Human rights were universal but the
promotion and protection of those rights of indigenous people
required a special sensitivity to particular situations. If the
majority of society understood the values and achievements of the
indigenous people, it would be better prepared to uphold those
rights.
It would take time for the international community to achieve
agreement on the principles to protect the rights of indigenous
people, he continued. The International Year would be the starting
point for the partnership between indigenous people and States and
another between indigenous people and the United Nations. "Unity
through diversity is the only true and enduring unity", he said.
Today's meeting was directly addressed to indigenous people
but was of equal concern to all the world. Human rights were not
only individual rights but collective rights. The twentieth
century had reduced the world to what some called a "global
village". There was no certainty that the twentieth century would
bequeath a positive inheritance to future generations, at least on
the question. Languages, tradition and cultures were floundering
in the flood of mass communications. The international community
could not acquiesce in that situation. Civilizations were mortal
but "we do not need to kill them off", he said. Lack of
assistance to endangered cultures should be regarded as a
violation of human rights.
There could be no protection of human rights without
preserving cultural authenticity, he said. It was no longer
possible to allow "a single ethnocide" to take place. He called
on the international community to be more vigilant, and to sound
an alarm as soon as an indigenous culture was in danger.
The year 1992 was an excellent choice for the International
Year for Indigenous People in view of the fact that it saw the
award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Rigoberta Menchu for her
contribution to social justice and reconciliation between
different ethnic groups. At the request of the United Nations,
Mrs. Menchu had agreed to serve as goodwill ambassador for the
International Year. She had given her moral support to the United
Nations battle for the protection of human rights.
The international community was trying to bring home one
single value, "the inherent value of being different," the
Secretary-General declared.
(For full text of Secretary-General's statement, see Press
Release SG/SM/4878-GA/8449-HR/3736.)
MONIQUE LANDRY, Minister for External Relations and
International Development (Canada), introducing the draft
resolution proclaiming 1993 the International Year of the World's
Indigenous People, said that Honduras, Bahamas, Suriname, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Tajikistan, Vanuatu, Russia, Cyprus,
Panama, the Philippines and Spain had agreed to co-sponsor the
resolution. The objective of the year was to strengthen
international cooperation in finding solutions for the problems
faced by the world's indigenous communities. Its theme
"Indigenous people -- a new partnership" spoke of change, of
progress, in relationships between indigenous people and the
international community. The resolution sought to encourage
various systems of Government and public administration to
acknowledge the special needs of indigenous people in the
formulation of their national policies, without setting them apart
from the societies within which they lived. Each country could
follow the path most appropriate to its situation.
She said the resolution did not address all of the issues of
concern to indigenous people. But it did reflect the spirit of a
new partnership. It opened doors of opportunity through which
indigenous communities could progress freely towards their own
cultural, social and economic goals without fear of assimilation
and in harmony with the broader societies in which they lived.
The past year had been historic for human rights and
indigenous people, she said. Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala had
won the Nobel Peace Prize -- the first indigenous person ever ot
be recognized for her work in support of human rights for
indigenous people. For 10 years, discussions had been under way
to develop standards on the specific rights of indigenous people
within the context of the universal rights of humankind.
Significant progress had been made.
Some indigenous people wanted discussions to continue at the
expert sub-commission level in order to bring more Governments to
a better understanding of their aspirations. Many others felt
that the time had come to move towards adopting a declaration that
brought the principles under discussion into a body of
internationally recognized rights and freedoms. Canada believed
that in light of the progress made, it was appropriate for the
General Assembly to request that the draft declaration be brought
forward in 1993, the International Year of the World's Indigenous
People, for initial consideration at the intergovernmental level.
But even the introduction of a declaration of rights and freedoms
for indigenous people would not be enough to ensure their rightful
place in the world family. There would still be a need for the
working group on indigenous populations, the organization, which,
had contributed so much to the progress of indigenous aspirations
to date. Consideration was needed regarding the working group's
new mandate.
The new partnership was something which Canada had been
working to establish with the aboriginal people within its own
borders for a number of years, she continued. Canada's native
agenda focused on four main areas: accelerating the settlement of
land claims; improving economic and social conditions on reserves;
building a new relationship between aboriginal people and
Governments; and addressing the concerns of aboriginal people in
contemporary Canadian life. In many ways, 1992 was a red-letter
year in progress towards those objectives.
The Agreement between Canada and the Tungavik Federation of
Nunavut to create the new territory of Nunavut by the Year 2000 had
been signed. Canada had just concluded an extensive process of
public consultation of renewing its constitution. Through that
process, for the first time in its history, aboriginal leaders
representing Canada's four national aboriginal associations joined
the Prime Minister, provincial premiers and territorial leaders as
direct participants in the process of constitutional renewal.
Together they reached unanimous agreement which would have provided
for the constitutional recognition of aboriginal people's inherent
right to self-government within Canada. In addition to
constitutional discussions, she said, Canada had pursued a
non-constitutional approach to a community-based form of
self-government, as well as tripartite negotiations with aboriginal
people living off reserves, in Metis, and in the provinces.
Canada intended to help build a better future for children,
including indigenous children, through a Partners for Children
Fund among whose priorities were the needs of indigenous children.
She expressed the hope that in 1993 wisdom and strength would help
to build a new partnership with indigenous people.
RONALDO MOTA SARDENBERG (Brazil) said indigenous people had
their own way of life, their own language, their own culture,
which often took root in a close relationship with the land they
occupied. They often needed special protection and assistance
from Governments. Much to the credit of the United Nations, it
had been able to emphasize not only the need for that special
protection and assistance, but also the important and
irreplaceable contribution that indigenous people could make to
national development. The International Year was not meant to be
a social event or a frivolous celebration. It reflected the
united view of all Member States that action-oriented efforts were
urgently required to solve the problems faced by indigenous
communities. The International Year provided a unique opportunity
for pondering the various problems and difficulties with which
indigenous communities were confronted, and to face squarely the
measures required to address those problems and difficulties. The
adoption of such measures was a moral duty and the political
responsibility of each State towards its indigenous communities.
International cooperation could and should bring a
significant contribution to national efforts to improve the
situation of indigenous populations. Activities undertaken within
the context of the International Year should be pragmatic and
result-oriented. He said the relevant resolutions adopted by the
General Assembly pointed out the basic problems, namely: human
rights, environment, development, education, and health. In all
those areas, much remained to be done to ensure that indigenous
populations enjoyed a better life and higher standards of living.
All the international community's efforts must be carried out,
invariably, within the strict limits of respect for the cultural
diversity of indigenous groups. The goal of development -- a
universal human aspiration -- was not to abolish cultural
differences, but rather to allow different cultures to flourish
and to prosper in an ever greater degree of freedom and mutual
respect. Due account must be taken of the different situations of
indigenous populations in various countries and within each
country. Each particular situation called for tailor-made
initiatives, responding to the specific needs of the communities
concerned.
The International Year was based on the notion of a "new
partnership", he continued. Indigenous groups could and must have
their own voice in expressing their needs, their claims and their own
views about how to solve their problems. Each Government, in the
planning and implementation of activities under the International
Year, must listen attentively to that voice, so that the initiatives
undertaken could genuinely reflect the new partnership. It was
appropriate that the programme of activities for the International
Year called for full consultations by each Government with indigenous
groups. The participation of non-government organizations in the
programme was an extremely encouraging sign.
He said respect for human rights must be an essential
component in all activities directed to indigenous populations.
The future declaration on indigenous rights, on which the
Commission on Human Rights should start working more actively in
1994, would set out basic standards of respect for the fundamental
rights and freedoms of indigenous people. In Brazil, an important
part of the effort to promote and protect the human rights of
indigenous people was the programme of demarcation of lands.
Ensuring that indigenous lands were securely demarcated, and
respected by all, was a major responsibility. It was an essential
condition for guaranteeing to indigenous communities a fair
opportunity for them to enjoy their human rights and to be able to
bring their own contribution to national development and to
benefit from that development, within their cultures. Of course,
each Member State would define its own priorities for action
within the context of the International Year. For Brazil,
fulfilling the targets established by the Brazilian Constitution
would continue to be at the top of the agenda.
He said the Rio Conference had highlighted the importance for
indigenous communities of their natural environment. There was a
broad range of possible actions that could be undertaken with
respect to the relationship between indigenous communities and the
environment. Among such actions, Brazil valued the promotion and
utilization of knowledge on genetic resources and the organization
of gene banks. There was a need to facilitate the conservation of
natural resources in indigenous areas, through appropriate
ecosystem management. Human rights, land and environment were key
areas to understanding the situation of indigenous people.
Encompassing all these three areas was the need for promoting
development opportunities for indigenous populations, in full
respect of their culture. The International Year could facilitate
the mobilizing of financial and technical resources for programmes
that could have concrete benefit to indigenous communities,
especially those in developing countries.
The Voluntary Fund established for the International Year
should receive adequate resources so as to allow effective
implementation of result-oriented initiatives on behalf of
indigenous communities. The question of how to mobilize
additional resources for such activities should be a major
priority for the technical meeting to take place in 1993. Brazil,
he added, was finalizing the elaboration of its national programme
of activities for the International Year. In the field of health
care, the activities to be developed would place greater emphasis
on preventive medicine, including puerperal assistance, epidemic
control and epidemiological surveillance, basic sanitation
measures, immunization campaigns and the training of indigenous
health workers. The participation of indigenous communities in
those programmes would be essential, including incorporating
traditional indigenous medicine in the delivery of health care
services.
Regarding education, he said, proposals under consideration
were aimed at guaranteeing greater access by indigenous people to
basic education, bearing in mind the need for greater
participation by indigenous representatives in the elaboration and
implementation of programmes of indigenous education. Teaching
materials should reflect the socio-ethnic specificity of each
group, and their implementation should include the training of
indigenous personnel for the teaching profession. Efforts
undertaken under the International Year should also reflect the
need for cultural promotion of indigenous communities, including
improving school books with respect to indigenous populations and
contributing to eliminate ethnic stereotypes and distorted images
of indigenous cultures in the communication media.
TERENCE O'BRIEN (New Zealand) said that the International
Year had special relevance for his country, a nation whose
founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was a compact between
two races. The United Nations Working Group on Indigenous
Populations had for several years been drafting a declaration on
the rights of indigenous peoples. Completion of the draft in 1993
would be an excellent contribution to the International Year for
the World's Indigenous People.
However, he continued, the road to harmony between indigenous
peoples and late arrivals could not be without debate within
individual nations. There were many views on how peaceful and
prosperous coexistence could be advanced in New Zealand, both
within Maoridom and within other sections of the society. In the
context of the Treaty of Waitangi an historic agreement on
fisheries had just been concluded in Wellington between the Crown
and Maori. It was expected that the New Zealand Parliament would
shortly pass legislation giving effect to that agreement. There
were some who saw the Fisheries Agreement as undermining the
rights of Maori in New Zealand. However, it was seen almost
universally as being fair to all parties and the resolution of a
longstanding and contentious issue. The two important points
were: first, that there was a willingness to right the wrongs of
the past and to protect Maori rights; second, there was a
willingness by all parties to participate in dialogue to achieve
progressive and positive change. The Fisheries Agreement had not
been achieved without extensive public discussion and
negotiation.
He welcomed the programme of activities planned for the
International Year, which included the funding of projects for
indigenous communities that were of direct benefit to them. He
said that New Zealand was posed to observe the International Year
in 1993, with the structure of its National Committee having been
decided. The Government was aware of plans already made by Maori
to host several major conferences on indigenous issues and with
international participation during 1993. The Year's theme,
"Indigenous people -- a new partnership", encouraged the
development of new relationships between States and indigenous
peoples and between the international community and indigenous
peoples. That partnership must be equitable and based on mutual
respect and understanding.
Senator ADI LITIA CAKOBAU (Fiji) said the Year would help to
draw international attention to the situation of indigenous peoples,
and highlight the unique contribution which they had made, and
continued to make, to global, social and economic developments. It
would help evaluate initiatives already taken to assist indigenous
peoples, and most importantly, to reassess programmes in support of
them. The theme for the Year would help provide a much needed
framework within which the new relationships between States and
indigenous peoples, and among the international community, could be
developed. The new partnership must be based on mutual respect and
understanding, if the process of dialogue and consultations with one
another was to be meaningful and effective.
The programme of activities and projects for the Year clearly
demonstrated the need for a well-established infrastructure for
furthering the objectives of the Year, at both national and
international levels. At the national level, committees to
prepare a programme of activities, raise public awareness, and
encourage the fullest participation of indigenous peoples in all
activities undertaken in connection with the Year must be
established. From the United Nations system, the funding of
concrete projects for the indigenous peoples should be
forthcoming. The organization of an international trade fair of
goods produced by the indigenous peoples was an excellent idea.
Preparatory work on that trade fair should begin as early as
possible.
The Year would be an occasion to highlight the uniqueness of
indigenous cultures and the value of those cultures in the present
world, she continued. The indigenous people had developed
techniques and skills which had allowed them to survive and
flourish in some of the most fragile ecosystems without causing
serious depletion of resources or damage to the environment.
While it was appropriate to recognize the historical debt of the
modern society to the knowledge and discoveries of the indigenous
peoples, ways and means of protecting and compensating the
present-day knowledge of indigenous peoples must be considered.
In 1988, she said, the indigenous people in Fiji numbered
345,000 out of a total population of 720,000, less than half of the
population. The new Constitution of Fiji adopted on 25 July 1990,
however, gave the indigenous Fijians a majority of seats in the House
of Representatives, in order to guarantee, protect and promote their
special indigenous position. It also contained entrenched provisions
in relation to native land and Fijian affairs. The Constitution
recognized the Great Council of Chiefs as an important institution in
the social, political and economic life of the Fijian people. The
Fijian majority in the Senate ensured the protection of Fijian
interests, their customs, land and traditions. In addition to the
concern for the Fijian people, the Constitution was guided by the
protective provisions in the Constitutions of several other Member
Countries of the United Nations, and the recognition that those
countries gave to the special rights of the indigenous people in
their countries. The Constitution did not disenfranchise any
non-Fijians nor did it deprive them of their rights. It placed great
emphasis on fundamental rights, freedoms and representation. Every
person in Fiji was entitled to fundamental rights and freedoms,
regardless of race, sex, place of origin, political opinions, colour,
religion or creed.
Fiji was of the firm conviction that security and stability
in the South Pacific region was related to how well indigenous
interests were addressed and accommodated, particularly as an
overwhelming majority of the island States were largely indigenous
in character, she said. The International Year was a major step
forward in the cause of the indigenous peoples of the world. Such
a move would have a more positive and pragmatic impact on
developmental objectives in the developing world, while on the
international scene, it could only strengthen and promote a deeper
humane and sensitive understanding of indigenous life which, in
turn, would enrich the world's humanity.
PATRICIA GILES (Australia) said that her country saw the
International Year of the World's Indigenous People as only the
start of what must be a long-term process of building
understanding between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples
throughout the world. At the national level, activities would
increase awareness of indigenous people's issues. Close
cooperation between Governments and indigenous groups in planning
and implementing those activities was needed. At the
international level there was also a need for improved
understanding. The United Nations system must use the year to
come to grips with those issues. Australia had assisted the
United Nations in preparing for the year, and would continue to
work with the Center for Human Rights and contribute to the
Voluntary Fund established by the Secretary-General.
She said Australia had been working to redress the history of
dispossession and disadvantage of indigenous Australians. The
process of reconciliation had been formulated to keep faith
absolutely with the aspirations of Australia's indigenous peoples
and to open up the potential for a substantial evolution in
indigenous and non-indigenous relations in the lead-up to the
centenary of Australian national government in the year 2001. It
was the Australian Governments intention to work in close
consultation with indigenous groups to ensure that activities
during the year appropriately highlighted this process of
reconciliation.
She said a momentous development for indigenous peoples was
the recent decision by the High Court of Australia to recognize a
form of native title for aboriginal and Torres Strait islander
peoples.
Reflected in all recent developments, she said, was the
positive approach that Australia was taking towards the broad
issue of the rights of indigenous peoples to self-determination.
Australia supported the inclusion of language referring to
self-determination in the draft declaration on the rights of
indigenous peoples being negotiated in the working group on
indigenous populations.
While recognizing the legitimate concern of States to preserve
their territorial integrity, specific recognition of the right of
self-determination for indigenous peoples, as separate and distinct
peoples, would assist them to overcome the barriers to full
democratic participation in the political processes and to enjoy the
full range of human rights. Australia hoped that substantial
progress towards International consensus on that fundamental issue
would be made during 1993. As an integral part of the 1993
activities, the Australian Government would support the holding of
workshops, seminars and conferences. Those meetings would involve
participation by indigenous groups from other countries and by
international experts on indigenous issues. Australia also hoped
that the discussion and results of those meetings would advance the
process of national reconciliation in Australia, strengthen
international bonds and generate ideas which could be used in other
countries to develop effective partnerships between indigenous and
non-indigenous people.
BROOKLYN RIVERA (Nicaragua), Minister-Director for the
Nicaraguan Institute for the Development of Autonomous Regions,
said the opening of the International Year would provide the
opportunity for all men and women of conscience to focus on the
indigenous people in their struggle for survival. That
significant event could not be considered as just one of the many
other events. Representatives in the Assembly today could feel
the existence of generations of people that had withstood
colonization, discrimination and oppression. The indigenous
people gathered in the Assembly Hall represented the martyrs whose
strong voices had flourished from the highlands of the Andes to
the Carribbean. Indigenous people identified profoundly with
nature, and had bequeathed a means of appropriate conservation as
a way of coexisting with the environment.
He said an earth-shaking movement had arisen that was spreading
throughout the world -- the actions of the indigenous people were
beginning to bear fruit and their movement was unstoppable. Their
languages and artistic creations were being recognized nationally and
internationally. They were no longer "picturesque characters" but
the creators of monumental works. They now contributed to the
progress and development of each of their countries.
The Ibero-American Indigenous Fund was an attempt to create a
new vision, to sponsor and support integrated development. He
went on to say it was time for Governments to recognize the
historical rights of indigenous people, to give them access to the
decision-making levels of government and for them to influence the
setting of major national goals to benefit all peoples.
Indigenous people must be allowed to use their own resources to
maintain their geographic areas, to be responsible for the
ethno-development of their societies and to share the plans,
projects and programmes for sustainable economic and social
development. And possession of their land was the material basis
for the community that ensured its survival.
Without the support of indigenous people, he said, it would
be impossible to ensure peace and effective government in the
individual countries. In Nicaragua the indigenous people had
contributed to peaceful change and had participated in the
national reconciliation efforts. He appealed to the Assembly to
proclaim the universal declaration on the rights of indigenous
people during the International Year; to recommend the
establishment of a special division for indigenous people and the
appointment of a secretary for indigenous affairs; and to request
the establishment of a special comprehensive programme for
indigenous people based on an integrated approach. He also
proposed that the Assembly seek to accelerate the implementation
of the agreements of UNCED, particularly those in chapter 26 of
Agenda 21.
JUAN SOMAVIA (Chile) said the Assembly meeting being held
today should have occurred a long time ago as the United Nations
was politically indebted to the indigenous people of the world.
The immense human wealth of the indigenous people, who were the
first to be in charge of the Earth, was
directly responsible for the international community being able to
meet as a unified body today.
The Government of Chile was recognizing pluralism and ethnic
diversity as major contributions to the search for a comprehensive
system of development for indigenous people, he said. His
Government was pursuing the application of international rights
and laws to the indigenous people. There was a need to reflect
upon the International Year as the beginning of a global,
practical commitment of the international community to incorporate
the indigenous people into political decision-making with respect
to their cultural integrity and their right to diversity.
Diversity must be considered within the context of development.
He said the authentic development of the indigenous people
could only occur if there was respect for the preservation of
their juridical, political and religious values. Ethnic and
cultural differences presented the challenge to the international
community of maintaining unity within diversity. Ethnic and
racial discrimination against indigenous people must be eliminated
as must any form of xenophobia.
This year should see the genuine access to goods and services
by previously marginalized indigenous people, he went on. A new
political will could be brought to bear on the United Nations
search for sustainable development. The concern of the
international community for the consequences of the relationship
of the indigenous people and the environment were
explicitly recognized in Agenda 21. Also, the role of
non-governmental organizations should be specified with regard to
indigenous people. The technical conference on the International
Year should lead to a proper balance of human and economic rights
where indigenous people were concerned.
He said he saluted Erica-Irene Daes, the Chairman/Rapporteur
of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, as symbolizing the
international recognition of cultural diversity. The
International Year was an opportunity
for world-wide reconciliation, cooperation and respect for
diversity.
MARY MIKALSEN TROLLVIK (Norway), speaking on behalf of the
Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden),
said those Governments were strongly committed to the need for
indigenous people and non-governmental organizations working with
them to be closely involved in the planning, implementation and
evaluation of activities for the International Year. They had
granted substantial contributions to the United Nations Voluntary
Fund for the International Year for the Indigenous People.
National committees composed of indigenous representatives, and
representatives from relevant ministries, had been established to
prepare national programmes of activities in connection with the
Year. Emphasis was placed on information, cultural activities,
exhibitions and seminars.
It was regrettable that many indigenous people were unable to
enjoy their fundamental human rights and freedoms, she went on.
It was therefore essential that the international community be
aware of the situation of indigenous people and act to secure
their enjoyment of human rights and take effective measures for
the elimination of discrimination against them. The International
Year could play an important role in activating public awareness
and perceptions. The International Year should be regarded as a
vehicle for new initiatives in line with the theme "Indigenous
people -- a new partnership". Action throughout the Year should
be geared to long-term and sustainable benefits for the world's
indigenous people. Within the unavoidable constraints of limited
resources, priority should be given to projects and activities
which benefited those people who suffered the most.
During the last decade, the international community had
witnessed an increasing will and ability of indigenous people to
coordinate their views and formulate common policies, she said.
The establishment of contacts between indigenous people was
important and should be encouraged. To facilitate such contacts,
the Nordic countries contributed financially to various indigenous
organizations, such as the United Nations Voluntary Fund for
Indigenous People. At the recent UNCED there was a significant
example of such coordinated views from indigenous organizations.
More than 25 organizations had agreed on a proposal recognizing
and strengthening the role of indigenous people. The proposal had
been submitted by the Governments of Denmark and Norway.
(some other UN business deleted from here)
Opening Ceremony
ANTOINE BLANCA, Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights and
Coordinator of the International Year for the World's Indigenous
People, said a new chapter was beginning in the relations between
indigenous people and the community of nations. From north, south,
east and west, they had come to share their preoccupations, their
needs, their interests and their hopes.
The Working Group on Indigenous Populations, which had met
each year since 1982, and the Centre for Human Rights played a key
role in the protection of the rights of indigenous people. For 10
years, the members of the Working Group had held regular meetings
and had established a constructive dialogue with representatives
of indigenous people. Those discussions involved human rights
concerns, as well as their concerns regarding land development,
health, education, culture, identity and environment.
In addition, he continued, contact had been established
between bodies and specialized agencies within the United Nations
system. The results of those contacts had been positive. The
exchange of views served to establish the kind of true partnership
which was sought. On the matter of finance, indigenous
communities in developing countries could benefit from concrete
results arising from the International Year. They had to be
reached directly. That was the goal of the United Nations
Voluntary Fund for the International Year, whose objective was to
raise $500,000. By today, $300,000 had been received or announced
by 11 Governments and one non-governmental organization.
Moreover, 50 projects had been proposed by the indigenous
communities. The necessary resources would have to be found for
those projects, which could not be financed by the Voluntary Fund.
In that context, appeals would also be made to the private sector
and non-governmental organizations.
He went on to say that one of the most important points of
the International Year concerned education. To get to know
indigenous people, it was essential to understand them better.
Brochures, press kits and posters in all languages would be
distributed through the United Nations. A directory of indigenous
people's organizations and a timetable of events throughout 1993,
the International Year, would also be published. Special care had
been taken to design materials suitable for children who knew
little of indigenous people -- their culture and their rights.
Mr. Blanca called on Governments to follow a similar path and
to plan to publish pedagogic material for use in schools. The
secretariat of the International Year was completing a wall map
for use in schools. The secretariat also planned to publish books
on themes to be touched upon during the International Year.
He said no one should forget that indigenous people across
the world suffered discrimination and violations of their human
rights and fundamental freedoms. Human rights mechanisms, which
existed to protect all, applied equally to indigenous people.
Next year should be an occasion to better inform indigenous people
and to their rights by publishing texts in their own language and
organizing information courses in the countries and regions where
they lived. Those problems could be considered at the World
Conference on Human Rights, to be held in June 1993, in Vienna.
In that context, the almost-completed work on the declaration on
the rights of indigenous people, drawn up by the Working Group,
was very important. The protection of the rights of indigenous
people would also be well-served by Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel Prize
winner, who had accepted the offer to be goodwill ambassador of
the International Year for the world's 300 million indigenous
people.
An ongoing process was beginning, he said, whose aim was to:
ensure full respect for the rights of indigenous populations;
increase resources; ensure their development; and raise universal
consciousness of the special place indigenous people had in the
family of nations.
ERICA-IRENE A. DAES, Chairman and Rapporteur of the Working
Group on Indigenous Populations, said that in the nearly 10 years
since she had chaired the Working Group on Indigenous Populations,
the Working Group had brought great changes, not only in the
attention given to indigenous peoples by the United Nations, but in
the level of indigenous participation in the work of the Group. The
world indigenous movement had expanded from North Europe and the
Americas to the Pacific, the Asian mainland and Africa. The truly
global scale and significance of the indigenous movement had become
clear for all to see.
When she assumed the chairmanship of the Working Group in
1984, it had not even begun its work on the draft declaration on
the rights of indigenous peoples, and many Governments questioned
whether indigenous peoples had any distinct rights at all as
peoples, she said. Today the Working Group celebrated the
beginning of an International Year devoted to promoting the rights
of indigenous peoples, and during this Year she believed the Group
would complete the draft declaration. There could be no more
fitting conclusion to this International Year than the completion
and eventual adoption of a charter of basis rights and freedoms
for those long-neglected peoples, who accounted for nearly one
tenth of the world's population. It would stand as an important
international instrument between the Member States of the United
Nations, and the earth's "first nations".
She said the present gathering was historic, representing the
first time that indigenous leaders had spoken in the General
Assembly, and it was the most distinguished assembly of indigenous
representatives ever to have addressed a United Nations meeting.
She said the theme of the International Year was "Indigenous
people -- a new partnership" that meant bringing an end to the
racism, colonialism and paternalism long suffered by indigenous
peoples, and the beginning of a new era marked by participation,
self-government, autonomy and self-determination. Henceforth,
indigenous peoples should not only have a decisive voice in decisions
that affected them directly, but share in all of the decisions that
would shape the future of our planet. Indigenous peoples demanded
the right to self-determination. That was not something to fear. It
meant nothing more than the right to rebuild their communities in
dignity and partnership with Governments, with freedom of choice, and
with the support of the United Nations system. Indigenous people
could be a vanguard of democracy and social justice in all the
countries in which they lived.
In some countries, as well as very large regions of other
countries, indigenous peoples were the majority of the population,
yet had not been able to enjoy any effective control over their
own destiny.
She said the aim of self-determination for indigenous peoples
had never been separatism or to destroy existing States, but to make
those States fully representative and democratic. That was an
aspiration the United Nations could not deny. Those were fundamental
principles which were included in the Charter of the United Nations
and other international instruments of human rights law.
With rights and greater participation come responsibilities,
and indigenous peoples themselves had already taken initiatives to
accept their great responsibilities and to contribute to the most
important international peace-building exercises of the 1990s.
The International Year, she said, must be more than 12
months. It must be the beginning of a new relationship between
indigenous peoples and the United Nations system, through which
indigenous peoples themselves could become increasingly involved
directly in the relevant work of the United Nations system.
She recommended the outline for an "Agenda for Indigenous
Peoples", to guide the work of the United Nations in 1993 and
beyond. There must be recognition of the unique contributions
which indigenous peoples, with their accumulated knowledge of
ecology, could make to achieving environmentally sound and
sustainable development globally.
An inter-agency research programme should be established to
monitor the conditions in which indigenous peoples lived. The
declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples should be adopted,
disseminated and implemented. And a truly open and representative
body of indigenous nations and peoples should be set up to provide
a global forum for indigenous peoples, to advise all of the United
Nations system on matters of policy, and to evaluate all aspects
of the work of the United Nations in that field.
She said indigenous peoples were the most significant
emerging force in contemporary world politics, standing for social
justice, genuine democracy and environmental sanity. They
deserved the full unqualified support and assistance of the United
Nations system.