Background
Asia is the continent with most of the world’s indigenous peoples. More than two thirds of the world’s indigenous peoples live in the region. While estimates vary – among other reasons, due to the inconsistent national terminology used to describe indigenous peoples and the challenges indigenous peoples face in terms of self-identification – approximately 400 million indigenous peoples live in Asia. Indigenous peoples in Asia include those referred to in national legislation and policies as tribal peoples, hill tribes, ethnic minorities, natives, customary communities, scheduled tribes and Adivasis. All Asian States voted in favour of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly in 2007 (except one State which abstained).
With the aim of engaging with indigenous peoples in Asia, the former Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, conducted a regional consultation jointly with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bangkok ( UN OHCHR Bangkok),with the support of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact and the Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education.
The consultation was held in Bangkok from 13 to 15 November 2019 and attended by more than 100 representatives of indigenous peoples including academics, lawyers and representatives of civil society organizations, independent national human rights institutions and UN Agencies from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Taiwan. In parallel, the Special Rapporteur issued a public call for contributions to a report on the situation of the human rights of indigenous peoples in Asia, in follow up to the regional reports prepared by her predecessors in 2007 and 2013.
Scope and objective of the webinar series.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, together with the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and OHCHR Bangkok are launching a webinar series to discuss how to strengthen the protection of indigenous peoples across Asia.
The virtual events will offer a platform for indigenous representatives to engage with the Special Rapporteur, exchange information about the situation of their communities and identify strategic interventions required to advance the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The webinar series follows the launch of the Special Rapporteur’s report on the regional consultation held with indigenous peoples. The report was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in September 2020¹
Target audience
Representatives of Indigenous People in Asia Region, academics, lawyers and representatives of civil society organizations, independent national human rights institutions, and UN Agencies.
Format
The first webinar will take place online on Microsoft Team on Friday 30 October 2020 with a focus on land rights, environment and climate change in the Asian region.
Two additional webinars will be held as part of the series, on the themes of business and human rights, criminalisation of and attacks against human rights defenders, SDGs, health and COVID19.
