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Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

A Call to Action from Indigenous Peoples in Asia to the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP)

Indigenous Peoples’ have diverse solutions to the 21st Century Global Crises

The inter-related social, economic, ecological and climate crises of the 21st century are reflective of deep structural imbalances in social and ecological relationships within society and with the natural world.

The historic colonization of indigenous peoples and the enclosure and exploitation of their lands, territories and resources within colonial and modern-day states, has brought forth and united a global movement of indigenous peoples, committed to upholding fundamental human rights and the continued survival and well-being of the world’s indigenous peoples.

The intensification of economic globalisation and the financial reach of transnational corporations have penetrated into all areas of indigenous lives and ancestral lands, accompanied by gross violations of their human rights. The negative impact on peoples and Mother Earth, brought about by the dominant paradigm of modern economic growth and development, calls out for alternative and diverse visions of social and ecological futures drawing upon the perspectives and positive contributions of indigenous peoples towards addressing the contemporary global crises. 

The Asia Preparatory Meeting for the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) held in Bangkok on November 8-9, 2012

Welcomes the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution  A/RES/65/198 dated 3 March 2011 to organize a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP), to be held in 2014, to share perspectives and best practices on the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples, including those acknowledged in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP);

Further welcomes the UNGA Resolution A/66/L.61 dated 17 September 2012, stating that the WCIP shall result in a concise action-oriented outcome document taking into account the views emerging from preparatory processes through informal interactive hearings and inclusive and open informal consultations among and between member states and indigenous peoples;

Convinced that the WCIP offers the opportunity to build on the UNDRIP and the existing internationally-agreed development goals to further propel the realisation of indigenous peoples’ human rights in the coming decades, and the inclusion of indigenous visions in the post-2015 development agenda of the UN, including the elaboration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Underlines that the adoption of the UNDRIP, by the UNGA in 2007, with the overwhelming favorable votes of most UN members states from Asia and the rest of world, represents a global commitment towards addressing the historical injustice perpetrated against indigenous peoples and highlights the contemporary imperative to respect, protect and promote the collective and individual human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, throughout the world;

Reiterates that the standards and principles contained in the UNDRIP should be regarded as the principal guiding document to enhance harmonious and cooperative relations between states and indigenous peoples, based on principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights, non-discrimination and good faith[1];

Welcomesthe work of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, all of which provide avenues for a more focused engagement on indigenous peoples’ issues within the UN  system;

[1] Preambular Paragraph of UNDRIP, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

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