CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN VILLAGE GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE: Thai and Sabahan Indigenous communities honoured by AIPP

For Immediate Release
1 October 2023

Media Release:
CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN VILLAGE GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE
Thai and Sabahan Indigenous communities honoured by AIPP

Sabah, Malaysia – Indigenous communities have been stewards of the environment for generations, possessing a profound knowledge of our lands, ecosystems, and sustainable practices that can guide the world towards a more sustainable future.

The International community has long acknowledged the wisdom and expertise of Indigenous Peoples when it comes to  environmental conservation through community-centred and spiritually-rooted land management, from which the world has much to learn about sustainable living and harmonious coexistence with Nature.

One of the most pressing challenges of our time is mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Indigenous Peoples often find themselves on the frontlines of these changes, facing threats to their traditional lands and ways of life.

Recognizing and respecting their rights to self-governance is not only a matter of justice but also a key element of effective climate action.

Against the current backdrop, the Centers of Excellence In Village Governance builds on AIPP’s Indigenous Peoples’ Self-Government and Democracy programme and the Indigenous Community Protocols Initiative led by PACOS Trust (the latter of which has been underway for the better part of a decade).

Both projects highlight self-governance over lands, territories and resources as a critical goal of Indigenous Peoples around the world.

In particular, AIPP’s Self-government and Democracy Course is aimed at reviving and recovering Indigenous Peoples’ governance systems through critical reflection and identification of the core-values governing and organizing indigenous societies.

Its objective is to prepare a pool of indigenous leaders who are schooled in the knowledge and practice of indigenous governance systems, such that the nucleus for a regional movement for indigenous sovereignty, self-determination and democratization can be consolidated and advanced in Asia.

The Indigenous Community Protocols, on the other hand, are tools for collective internal decision-making and engagement with external entities, developed by and for indigenous communities.

Through documentation of customary institutions, rules and regulations based on indigenous worldviews, values and principles, the protocols help to re-enforce collective decision-making which in turn serves to strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ self-governance systems and claims for their right to self-determination.

Through the Centers of Excellence in Village Governance initiative, AIPP in partnership with indigenous communities, will work to recognize and promote indigenous communities that are self-governing and strengthening their customary institutions.

Indigenous self-governing communities will be supported to become building blocks of the movement on indigenous self-governance and democracy as a long-term strategy. These communities will become “Centers of Excellence in Village Governance” and will act as the drivers of strengthening other indigenous communities in self-governance.

Gam A. Shimray
Secretary-General, AIPP

Click here to download the full press release of AIPP COE VG

Click here to download the Hin Lad Nai Village Profile

Click here to download the Kiau Nuluh Village Profile