“Africa has been consolidating and strengthening the legal framework protecting indigenous people,” Senior Specialist on Indigenous Tribal Peoples’ Issues for the International Labour Organization (ILO), Albert Kwokwo Barume, said at a Headquarters press conference being held in connection with the 12th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. .

“We have a large number of African countries that supported the UN Declaration [on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples],” he continued, noting countries implementing domestic laws, like Congo has done. In addition, the Central African Republic has become the first African member country of the ILO to ratify the agency’s Convention 169, which is a legally binding treaty which deals specifically with the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, Mr. Barume said.

Adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007 after more than two decades of debate, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sets out the individual and collective rights of those peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues.

Mr. Barume also noted that the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights has been “playing a leading role on indigenous people’s issues in Africa.” He underlined that the Commission had particularly helped to conceptualize what being ‘indigenous’ means in Africa, something that has been controversial in some countries.

“Today, that concept has a clear, well-defined, and non-controversial understanding,” he said.

Around 2,300 indigenous participants have gathered at UN Headquarters in New York to discuss culture, education and health during the 12th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. This year, the two-week forum will particularly focus on youth, indigenous groups in Africa and the importance of strengthening ties with international financial institutions.

Mr. Barume said the current session on Africa is an opportunity for African countries to learn from good practices in other regions, as well as an opportunity for them to share their successful experiences with the world.

“We have seen different attempts of trying to educate indigenous children, but indigenous people have the right to make the choices of the education they want to give their children because they have the right to self-determination,” he said. “In that sense, Africa must avoid making the same mistakes that other countries have made in the past.”

Also participating in the forum were the Legal Adviser to the President of the Republic of the Congo, Laurent Tengo and Simon William M’Viboudoulou, Member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Responding to a number of questions, including one on visits of UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights James Anaya to Africa, in particular to Namibia, Mr. M’Viboudoulou said that, when Mr. Anaya had visited the Republic of Congo, the country had been in the process of establishing its laws on indigenous peoples. The State’s openness to dialogue had helped to improve the situation of its indigenous population, including implementing the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations.

“We all know the problems facing the indigenous people of Namibia”, he said of that particular visit. However, it was important to consider that accepting Mr. Anaya’s visit – and engaging in dialogue on the issue – showed political will on the part of the Namibian Government. He was confident that things would soon change for the San, one of that country’s indigenous groups.

Asked what was being done to educate mainstream populations about the rights of indigenous peoples, Mr. Tengo responded that there was a longstanding belief in many countries that indigenous people were part of the nation, and that there was no reason to take particular measures to protect them. The first challenge was to break away from that thinking.

The second challenge, he continued, was the state of underdevelopment that generated poverty and intolerance. Indigenous peoples lived mostly in poverty, and changing that would require the political courage to take proactive measures. In addition, indigenous peoples themselves needed to “take their destiny in their hands” and defend their own rights, he said.

On the same question, Mr. Barume stressed the need to address historical injustices against African indigenous peoples, in particular with regard to the annexation of land. Acknowledging those injustices was the first step, he underscored, as “you cannot correct a mistake that you do not first recognize”. It was also critical to legally address those wrongdoings, and then to implement laws and educate the mainstream community.

“From community radio and television to feature films and documentaries, from video art and newspapers to the internet and social media, indigenous peoples are using these powerful tools to challenge mainstream narratives, bring human rights violations to international attention and forge global solidarity,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for the Day.

“Indigenous voices are recounting compelling stories of how they are combating centuries of injustice and discrimination, and advocating for the resources and rights that will preserve their cultures, languages, spirituality and traditions,” he added.

The theme of this year’s Day – ‘Indigenous Media, Empowering Indigenous Voices’ – aims to highlight the importance of indigenous media in challenging stereotypes, forging indigenous peoples’ identities, communicating with the outside world, and influencing the social and political agenda.

The Day was first proclaimed by the General Assembly in December 1994, to be celebrated every year during the first International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, which ran 1995 – 2004. In 2004, the Assembly proclaimed a second International Decade, from 2005 – 2015, with the overall theme of ‘A Decade for Action and Dignity.’

In 2007, the Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which recognizes their right to self-determination and their right to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development, and develop past, present and future manifestations of their culture in various forms.

In his message, Ban pledged the full support of the UN system to cooperate with indigenous peoples and their media to promote the full implementation of the Declaration, and called on Member States and the mainstream media to “create and maintain opportunities for indigenous peoples to articulate their perspectives, priorities and aspirations.”

In her statement to mark the Day, the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, stressed the importance of using indigenous media to integrate indigenous people to the sustainable development model.

“Indigenous peoples face… the sharpest edges of change – from poverty and social injustice, from discrimination and marginalization. This cannot stand. To succeed, sustainable development must be inclusive. All voices must not only be heard but listened to,” Bokova said.

“At a time when debate has opened on the contours of a new global sustainability agenda, the voices of indigenous peoples must be heard,” she added. “Their rights, cultures and the knowledge systems must be taken into account.”

Bokova emphasized that the media provide a way to fight isolation and discrimination, particularly for indigenous women, by providing them with a way to bolster their voices and promote changes in attitudes and social behaviour.

UNESCO, Bokova said, is working to facilitate access for indigenous people to the public sphere, as well as provide them with the necessary skills to document and communicate their knowledge.

Also marking the Day, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, James Anaya, stated that indigenous media can help reduce the marginalization and misinterpretation of indigenous voices, which has been detrimental to their attempts to secure and understanding of their rights within the broader societies in which they live.

In particular, Anaya, and the Expert Mechanism on the Right of Indigenous People, pointed to activities related to extractive industries as issues that require attention from the media to ensure that indigenous rights are protected even though new projects regarding land and resources are being carried out.

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs like Anaya, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes. Set up by the Council in 2007, the Expert Mechanism provides it with thematic advice, in the form of studies and research, on the rights of indigenous peoples.

To mark the Day, there will be an event at UN headquarters in New York highlighting this year’s theme, which will include a panel discussion with representatives of indigenous media organizations from across the world, as well as a film screening of the film ‘Voices through time,’ which documents the efforts by indigenous groups to use radio and new communication technologies to build networks.