The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is a high-level advisory body to the Economic and Social Council. The Forum was established on July 28, 2000, to deal with indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health, and human rights.
This year, the Forum was held from April 19-30, and the theme was “Peace, justice and strong institution: the role of indigenous peoples in implementing SDG 16”. Its focus is on the culture and traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples to inform and educate the global society of a holistic and harmonious way of living and well-being—a pattern of living sustainability that is interconnected and values nature.
VIVAT International co-organized with the NGO Mining Working Group the following side events:
- With Southeast Asia Sub-committee: Education, Extractives and Climate Change Nexus: Indigenous Peoples as Agents of Peace – This side-event addresses the nexus of education, climate adaptation, and the impact of unsustainable land use and conversion to monoculture palm-oil farming on indigenous lands. Indigenous peoples of Indonesia and the Philippines will share their situation, analysis, and present actions. How do these contribute or not contribute to the realization of SDG 16? Video recording: watch here…
- With the Amazon Sub-committee – Human Rights Violations in Time of Covid 19 Continue and Deepen – The representatives of the indigenous peoples have shown the situation of human rights in the Amazon, which Henry Ramírez, one of the organizers, defined as “an expression of solidarity that is globalized,” insisting on seeing “human rights as an indisputable task from our faith.” Read more…
- With the Amazon Sub-committee – Indigenous Women Linking North-South Lands – Conversations between Indigenous Peoples from the Americas have been a tradition for several years at the Indigenous Peoples Forum. This year, in honor of the global commission on the status of women that just finished, we have invited three Indigenous women from the South, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil to share with three Indigenous women from the Isleta del Sur Pueblo, Cherokee, and Mohawk tribes in North America. Read more…
Marides Santos SSpS– VIVAT International, New York