BAGUIO CITY, May 25, 2023 - "Meron pa rin pong mga katutubo talaga na hindi pa sibilisado" (Some Indigenous individuals in our community are still uncivilized), a participant stated, which was addressed and debunked during the training workshop on the Indigenous Navigator framework and tools, in which six members of the Tagbanua Indigenous Group participated in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines, in April 2023. The objective of the training was to enhance their comprehension of the Indigenous Navigator framework, empowering them to advocate for their rights more effectively. 

The statement shared by Elinita C. Orquista, leader of Katutubong Tagbanuang Tangdulanen sa Binga (SAKATTABI), sparked a discussion among participants and implementers. During her sharing, she highlighted the ongoing struggles faced by indigenous peoples. Accordingly, some individuals exhibited hesitancy and a lack of confidence when interacting with people outside of their community, even referring to themselves as “uncivilized”,  Orquista shared. 

Raymundo Rovillos, professor at the University of the Philippines Baguio, shed light on the historical origins of the observed reluctance within indigenous communities today. According to him, the relocation of indigenous peoples was frequently employed as a strategy to resist the imposition of taxes and forced labor by the government and colonizers in the past. 

“Ayaw nila ng pwersadong pinagtatrabaho sila. Ibig sabihin, mas gusto nila ng kalayaan, kaya ang pagtakbo sa bundok at paglayo sa mga taga-patag, iyon ay actually pagtutol sa mga patakaran ng kolonyalismo” (They didn't like being forced to work. In other words, they preferred freedom. As a result, they opted to seek refuge in the mountains and distance themselves from the lowland communities. This was actually their way of resisting against the oppressive policies of colonialism), he added. 

Rovillos further explained that the term "uncivilized" was used by the colonizers as a means to marginalize indigenous peoples and paint them as different from the norms established. “Kaya nila [colonizers] binabansagan ang mga katutubo ng ganitong mga negatibong pangalan, dahil tumututol ang mga katutubo na magpasakop… Pero hindi ibig sabihin na hindi sibilisado ang mga katutubo, kailangang i-correct natin yan sa sarili natin” (Colonizers used derogatory names to refer to the indigenous peoples due to the latter’s resistance to colonization. However, their resistance didn't mean they lacked civilization. It's crucial for us to correct this misconception), Rovillos expressed. 

Johnmart Salunday, president of the Nagkakaisang mga Tribu ng Palawan (NATRIPAL), also explained that the perception of indigenous communities as uncivilized stemmed from their previous nomadic lifestyle and their lack of a permanent settlement as they searched for food and sustenance. Unfortunately, some people wrongly equated this practice with a lack of civilization, perpetuating this misconception to this day. 

“Saan ka ba nakakita ng mga konkretong bahay ng katutubo… tabing-tabing lang tayo noon… Sa amin kasi, ‘pag panahon ng pangangaso doon [kami] sa gubat; ‘pag panahon naman ng ano [pangingisda] diyan naman [kami] sa dagat” (Back then, concrete houses were uncommon as we primarily relied on makeshift shelters. This was because we would later move to the forests during hunting season and settle near the sea for the fishing season), Salunday highlighted. 

With support from the European Union, the Indigenous Navigator is a framework and set of tools created for and by indigenous peoples to monitor the recognition and implementation of their rights. It offers free access to community-generated data, benefiting indigenous organizations, communities, duty-bearers, non-government organizations, and journalists. ###

Figure 1 Photo by: IUCN

On May 8-9, 2023, representatives of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) met and with representatives of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) in Barcelona, Spain to discuss how indigenous peoples’ rights and concerns can be better integrated in their nature-related risk disclosure and opportunity management and disclosure framework. It is a parallel process to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TFCD), from which the draft framework builds and improves on, and directly contributes to the monitoring framework of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). This meeting is part of the consultation/engagement phase of TNFD for the KMGBF of which it is in its last phase as the deadline for comments and feedback has already passed on May 30.

It may be recalled that the KMGBF, adopted in COP 15 in December 2022, included a target on ensuring that businesses disclose and manage their dependencies and impacts on biodiversity. The target is a recognition that there are activities, mostly by large transnational companies and their supply chains, that have and can impact biodiversity negatively, as well as support biodiversity actions. The international indigenous peoples movement, in fact, was started partly because of the violations faced by indigenous communities because of business and development projects that impact their lands, waters, territories and resources. As such, a placeholder complementary indicator to monitor progress for this target could possibly be based on the TNFD framework.

During the Barcelona meeting, IIFB representatives (of which a Tebtebba staff is included) emphasized that while there was progress in the draft particularly through the addition of the LEAP framework^[1], some gaps and red flags remain. For example, recognizing indigenous peoples as ‘rights holders’ and not just affected stakeholders remains contentious, as the term ‘rights holders’ can be interpreted to mean everyone. The framework is restricted to environmental concerns, despite acknowledgement of the relationship between nature and culture as well as the cross-cutting nature of traditional knowledge and indigenous peoples rights in the KMGBF.

Furthermore, IIFB representatives reiterated that IPLCs were brought in the process only after the framework draft has been developed to react, as opposed to co-developing the framework or at least parts of it where indigenous peoples rights were relevant. Last but not the least, the framework, which is quite comprehensive, is only voluntary. Therefore, there will always be a push and pull on how progressive it can be on the human rights scale and on how many businesses and financial institutions are willing to include additional elements of it in their reporting.

It will be seen during the launching of the finalized framework in September 2023 whether there was uptake on the feedback from IIFB. Regardless, IPLCs cannot only rely on the TNFD framework in the pursuit to protect its territories from negative impacts of extractive industries and transnational companies. There is a continuing call for stronger government regulation of businesses and transnational companies. With the Legally Binding Treaty negotiations still underway (and will probably be for a long while), IPLCs and human rights advocates still need to monitor and engage in the different processes^[2] that contribute to making businesses accountable for their human rights and environmental impacts. ###

^[1] The LEAP approach is voluntary guidance intended to support internal, nature-related risk and opportunity assessments within corporates and financial institutions. It means ‘Locate, Evaluate, Assess and Prepare’ and it includes a stakeholder engagement approach wherein indigenous peoples rights are articulated. However TNFD does not necessarily recommend all elements in the LEAP approach to be disclosed. ^[2] For example, there are draft frameworks for social disclosures and inequality disclosures also being developed by TSFD and TIFD respectively, which may be more favorable for human rights due diligence elements

“Mailak kit makaturung naoy atdi pannaka-recognize da amin e tribo atdi Pilipinas ya babain naoy ot ma-unite da te napapigsa di ibil di add-adu nu sa sasa’an” (I can see that the [UPAKAT] can help in the recognition of all ethnic groups in the Philippines and that, through this network, indigenous peoples can unite as the voice of many is louder than that of only one).

Rico Sumalag, officer of Ganak da iLicoy, commented on the benefit of joining the Ugnayang Pambansa para sa Katutubong Kaalaman at Talino (UPAKAT), Inc. during the UPAKAT orientation in Casicallan, Paracelis, Mountain Province on March 24, 2023, conducted with support from SwedBio.

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Baguio City, Philippines, May 2023—Twenty-two emerging leaders of indigenous peoples in Africa participated in the African Regional Training on Indigenous Peoples’ Self-Determined and Sustainable Development last February 27 to March 2 in Arusha, Tanzania. The training aimed to strengthen the integrated and holistic approach to sustainable development of indigenous peoples in the different regions of Africa.

Anne Samante, Finance and Administrative Manager of MPIDO, emphasized in her opening statement that the issues of indigenous peoples in Africa are cross-cutting and development initiatives to address these are supposed to be “our” way of indigenous peoples. “We need development in our way, not imposed by the government,” she said.

The training served as a venue for the participants to discuss the prevailing global crises that are affecting their communities including poverty, climate change, biodiversity erosion, land grabbing, conflict and discrimination, among others. Esperance Binyuki Nyota, the executive director of Union pour l’Emancipation de la Femme Autochtone (UEFA) based in the Democratic Republic of Congo and one of the training facilitators, stressed that indigenous peoples must not be ignored considering their important roles in responding to these crises.

The human rights of indigenous peoples as embodied in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) were also comprehensively discussed. The participants surfaced the different human rights violations being experienced by indigenous peoples in Africa.

The participants highlighted the different challenges being confronted by indigenous women in Africa, their causes and consequences. They emphasized how indigenous women and indigenous children are affected by natural and man-made disasters, on the drought in East Africa, armed conflict in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the displacement in Ngorongoro in Tanzania.

This writer, the training coordinator of the Elatia Indigenous Peoples Training Institute, provided an overview of the General Recommendation No. 39 on the rights of indigenous women and girls of the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Adopted last October 2022, General Recommendation No. 39 is a guide to States parties on legislative, policy and other relevant measures to ensure the implementation of their obligations in relation to the rights of indigenous women and girls under the CEDAW.

“Young indigenous children cannot speak their mother tongue. If we lose language, we lose traditional knowledge,” Shamazi Maendeleo Edouard Dewar of Dignité Pygmée (DIPY) in the Democratic Republic of Congo stressed, emphasizing the parallel need to preserve indigenous knowledge and indigenous language.  Likewise, participants shared the different challenges they are facing in protecting their traditional knowledge.

The partners also highlighted the challenges and threats to their traditional livelihoods and stressed the significant differences between the prevailing dominant economic systems and the indigenous and local economic systems. In conclusion, Bouba Njobdi Amadou of Lelewal and one of the training facilitators pointed out that indigenous economies are intergenerational and are done in consideration of the seen and the unseen.

Furthermore, the participants shared their perspectives about what is ‘being happy’ to them or how they define wellbeing. “It means a good life, especially [for our] community. For pastoralists, it is more livestock, more healthy people with education,” said Edward Gafachu of PAICODEO and PINGO’s Forum in Tanzania. For Chia Onorine Nyabong of Lelewal, wellbeing meant being able “to create joy and peace to other people and the prevalence of self-control”. 

As part of the training, the participants visited the Maasai community in Terat village of Simanjiro district in the Arusha Region of Tanzania to enrich their understanding on the significant roles of traditional knowledge on natural resource management.

Loorimpa Mazingira, a community-organized group at Terrat village, revived and conserved their dried-up river using their traditional knowledge and with the support of PINGO’s Forum, a non-government organization (NGO) based in Arusha. Now, Loorimpa River provides them water for cleaning and cooking and for drinking of their livestock, as well as ensures water supply for the next generations.

The participants also visited the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights based at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Conservation Centre in Arusha. Personnel of the Court’s Registrar provided an overview of the mission of the Court, its jurisdiction, the Judges as well as of opportunities for engagement of indigenous peoples in the Court, among others. During the interactive discussion, the ELATIA partners were able to raise significant questions and concerns on the situation of indigenous peoples in Africa.

The resource persons and participants of the event belong to ELATIA partner organizations in Africa. ELATIA is a global partnership of indigenous peoples’ organizations, networks and NGOS in 13 countries from Asia, Latin America and Africa that are spearheading self-determined and sustainable development of indigenous peoples.

Mainyoito Pastoralists Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO) based in Nairobi, Kenya organized the five-day training in close coordination with Tebtebba and the Elatia Indigenous Peoples Training Institute which are based in Baguio City, Philippines.