Knowledge of indigenous peoples can promote harmony with Earth by Dario Mejia Montalvo President of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues   Apr. 2023   The age-old knowledge of indigenous peoples has a key role to play in the battle against the climate crisis. A major conference taking place at the United Nations will highlight the lessons they can teach wider society.   Many indigenous peoples profess a deep respect for the planet and all forms of life, and an understanding that the health of the Earth goes hand in hand with the wellbeing of humankind.   This knowledge will be shared more widely at the 2023 session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a ten-day event which gives indigenous communities a voice at the UN, with sessions devoted to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, and health and human rights.   Ahead of the conference, UN News interviewed Dario Mejia Montalvo, an indigenous member of the Zenu community in the Colombian Caribbean, and president of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.   UN News: What is the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and why is it important?   Dario Mejia Montalvo: We first have to talk about what the United Nations is. The UN is made up of Member States, most of which are less than two hundred years old. Many of them imposed their borders and legal systems on the peoples who were there long before the formation of the States.   The United Nations was created without taking these peoples – who have always considered that they have the right to maintain their own ways of life, government, territories, and cultures – into account.   The creation of the Permanent Forum is the largest gathering of peoples in the United Nations System, seeking to discuss global issues that affect all humanity, not just indigenous peoples. It is a historic achievement of these peoples, who were left out of the creation of the UN; it allows their voices to be heard, but there is still a long way to go.   UN News: Why is the Forum focusing its discussions on planetary and human health this year?   Dario Mejia Montalvo: The COVID-19 pandemic was a momentous upheaval for human beings but, for the planet, a living being, it was also a respite from the global pollution.   The UN was created with only one view, that of the Member States. Indigenous peoples are proposing that we go beyond science, beyond economics, and beyond politics, and think of the planet as Mother Earth. Our knowledge, which goes back thousands of years, is valid, important, and contains innovative solutions.   UN News: What diagnoses do indigenous people have for addressing the health of the planet?   Dario Mejia Montalvo: There are more than 5,000 indigenous peoples in the world, each with their own worldview, understanding of the current situations, and solutions.   What I think indigenous peoples have in common is their relationship with the land, the basic principles of harmony and balance, where the idea of rights is not based solely around humans, but in nature.   There are multiple diagnoses, that may have elements in common, and can complement the diagnoses of Western science. We are not saying that one kind of knowledge is superior to another; we need to recognize each other and to work together on an equal footing.   This is the approach of indigenous peoples. It is not a position of moral or intellectual superiority, but one of collaboration, dialogue, understanding, and mutual recognition. This is how indigenous peoples can contribute to the fight against the climate crisis.   UN News: When indigenous leaders defend their rights – especially those who defend environmental rights – they suffer harassment, killings, intimidation, and threats.   Dario Mejia Montalvo: These are really holocausts, tragedies that are invisible to many.   Humanity has become convinced that natural resources are infinite and ever cheaper, and Mother Earth’s resources have been considered commodities.   For thousands of years, indigenous peoples have resisted the expansion of agricultural and mining frontiers. Every day they defend their territories from mining companies that seek to extract oil, cola and resources that, for many indigenous peoples, are the blood of the planet.   Many people believe that we have to compete with and dominate nature. The desire to control natural resources with legal or illegal companies, or through so-called green bonds or the carbon market is essentially a form of colonialism, which considers indigenous peoples as inferior and incapable and, consequently, justifies their victimization and extermination.   Many States still do not recognize the existence of indigenous peoples and, when they do recognize them, there are considerable difficulties in advancing concrete plans that will allow them to continue defending and living on their lands in dignified conditions.   UN News: What do you expect this year from the session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues?   Dario Mejia Montalvo: The answer is always the same: to be heard on an equal footing, and recognized for the contributions we can make to major global discussions.   We hope that there will be a little more sensitivity, humility on the part of the Member States to recognise that, as societies, we are not on the right track, that the solutions to crises proposed so far have proved insufficient, if not contradictory. And we expect a little more coherence, so that commitments and declarations are converted into concrete actions. The United Nations is the centre of global debate, and it should take indigenous cultures into account.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135677 http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135827 http://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/unsung-heroes-conservation-indigenous-people-fight-forests http://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/21/plantations-ranches-are-devouring-worlds-forests http://library.witness.org/product/vae-environmental-defense-guide/ http://www.iwgia.org/en/news/5193-iw-2023-indigenous-peoples-human-rights-conservation.html http://namati.org/resources/respecting-indigenous-rights-an-actionable-due-diligence-toolkit-for-institutional-investors/ http://rightsandresources.org/blog/qa-with-indigenous-leader-gam-shimray-on-how-rights-biodiversity-and-the-global-future-are-intertwined/ http://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples http://social.desa.un.org/news/a-rights-based-approach-to-indigenous-issues Visit the related web page
	Rights expert welcomes Vatican’s rejection of ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ by Jose Francisco Cali Tzay UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples   Apr. 2023   The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples has welcomed the Vatican’s rejection of the 'Doctrine of Discovery', a 500-year-old Catholic decree that was used to justify the seizure of indigenous lands by colonial powers.   “The doctrine of discovery is still an open wound for many Indigenous Peoples around the world,” said Jose Francisco Cali Tzay, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. “It must be addressed as part of a reconciliation process between Indigenous Peoples and colonial States.”   The Special Rapporteur commended the Vatican’s recognition of the harmful effects of colonisation, including the pain suffered by Indigenous Peoples and welcomed Pope Francis’ call to abandon the colonising mentality and promote mutual respect and dialogue.   “The Holy See has taken an important step towards reconciliation and healing with Indigenous Peoples by rejecting all concepts that fail to recognise their inherent human rights,” the UN expert said.   “The doctrine was recognised as vesting a unilateral right of European colonial powers to claim superior sovereignty and rights over Indigenous Peoples’ lands and resources based on their supposed lack of civilisation and religion,” Calí Tzay said. The papal doctrine was used to claim indigenous territories in the Americas, Africa and other parts of the world.   The doctrine continues to have a negative impact on the full enjoyment of human rights by Indigenous Peoples in some countries. The Doctrine of Discovery provides a legal basis to unilaterally deprive Indigenous Peoples of their rights to title and ownership of their traditional lands and territories by States that continue to use this legal theory as part of their national law, legislation, and jurisprudence, particularly in relation to land disputes.   The UN expert noted that this was one of the root causes of the intergenerational trauma suffered by Indigenous Peoples, which currently manifests in high rates of suicide among Indigenous youth, over-representation of Indigenous Peoples in the criminal justice system, disproportionate violence against Indigenous women and girls, and racial discrimination.   The Special Rapporteur urged all States that still embrace and apply the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ to follow the lead of the Vatican in formally repudiating the decree and reviewing all jurisprudence and legislation that relies on it.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135462 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/04/un-expert-hails-vatican-rejection-doctrine-discovery-urges-states-follow http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-indigenous-peoples Visit the related web page
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