“Indigenous women have an integral collective and community role as carers of natural resources and keepers of scientific knowledge”: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples & Virtual commemoration (9 August) – Unesco
Indigenous women are the backbone of indigenous peoples’ communities and play a crucial role in the preservation and transmission of traditional ancestral knowledge. They have an integral collective and community role as carers of natural resources and keepers of scientific knowledge. Many indigenous women are also taking the lead in the defense of indigenous peoples’ lands and territories and advocating for indigenous peoples’ collective rights worldwide.
However, despite the crucial role indigenous women play in their communities as breadwinners, caretakers, knowledge keepers, leaders and human rights defenders, they often suffer from intersecting levels of discrimination on the basis of gender, class, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
Source: “The role of indigenous women in the preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge”, United Nations 2022 URL: https://www.un.org/en/observances/indigenous-day Date Visited: 8 August 2022
Indigenous peoples and UNESCO
Indigenous peoples live in all regions of the world and own, occupy or use some 22% of global land area. Numbering at least 370-500 million, indigenous peoples represent the greater part of the world’s cultural diversity, and have created and speak the major share of the world’s almost 7000 languages. Many indigenous peoples continue to be confronted with marginalization, extreme poverty and other human rights violations. Through partnerships with indigenous peoples, UNESCO seeks to support them in addressing the multiple challenges they face, while acknowledging their significant role in sustaining the diversity of the world’s cultural and biological landscape. | Learn more >>
The protection and well-being of indigenous peoples has never been so important. Despite their cultural diversity and homelands across 90 countries, they share common challenges related to the protection of their rights as distinct peoples. 370 million indigenous peoples make up less than 5 per cent of the world’s population but account for 15 per cent of the poorest.
In this spirit, UNESCO’s latest Global Education Monitoring Report provides concrete guidance and policy advice for the advancement of indigenous peoples’ rights’.
Source: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (2017) URL: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/international-day-of-the-worlds-indigenous-peoples-2017/ Date accessed: 13 October 2021
“Indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable populations in the world. This International Day is an opportunity to raise public awareness of their precarious situation, particularly in relation to migration.” – Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2018
Amid renewed demands for declaration of national holiday on World Adivasi Day, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples was celebrated with much enthusiasm across the Bhadrachalam Agency and elsewhere in the predominantly tribal populated district on Thursday.
The temple town of Bhadrachalam in Telangana’s tribal heartland came alive with an array of cultural programmes showcasing the diverse art forms of Adivasis, including Kommu Koya dance, thus marking the grand celebration of the World Adivasi Day.
Scores of Adivasis belonging to Koya, Nayakpodu, Konda Reddi and other tribal communities took out a huge rally in the town displaying their unique cultural traditions.
Earlier, Bhadrachalam MLA Sunnam Rajaiah, Project Officer of Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Bhadrachalam, Pamela Satpathy and others paid floral tributes to the statues of Adivasi freedom fighters Gantam Dora, Mallu Dora, Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju in the town. Schools across the district remained closed on Thursday on account of a local holiday declared by the district administration. […]
The participants of the meeting deliberated on the ways to forge a strong unity among all the Adivasi communities and explore legal options to defend their legitimate rights and achieve due share in educational, employment and other spheres.
Several speakers highlighted the need for declaration of a national holiday on August 9 by the government from next year to officially celebrate the World Adivasi Day so as to preserve the distinct customs, identity and cultural heritage of indigenous people.
“Tribal communities are a standing example of how women play a major role in preservation of eco historic cultural heritage in India.” – Mari Marcel Thekaekara (writer and Co-Founder of ACCORD-Nilgiris) | Learn more >>
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