Projects for 2005-2006

This project, supported by Rights & Democracy seeks to create jurisprudence for indigenous women of the Americas. It has been noted that the issue of gender has rarely been present when dealing with legal issues amongst indigenous peoples. With the support of Rights & Democracy, NGOs from Canada and Latin America, as well as members of the Quebec Native Women Association, and the Université de Québec à Montréal (UQAM) will begin work on a three-year project to develop legal documentation for human rights norms amongst indigenous peoples, with particular emphasis on women. Working with pertinent tools available from the Organization of American States, it is hoped that this project will create a useful base of information, taking expertise from previous projects on indigenous peoples and gender studies.

 

Rights & Democracy has continued to follow the negotiations surrounding the adoption of an American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the Organization of American States. In October 2005, we participated in the sixth round of talks in Guatemala, which was the first round of talks to be held outside of OAS headquarters in Washington. The goal was to facilitate the participation of indigenous representatives, particularly from Guatemala, at the meeting. We also continue to financially support the technical meetings of the Indigenous Caucus, which bring together indigenous representatives from all countries of the Americas to define common positions. If the talks go smoothly, the Declaration should be adopted by the OAS General Assembly in 2007.

This project, supported by Rights & Democracy, is the extension and cohesion of various projects in the past dealing with intellectual property among indigenous peoples. Stemming from the work of groups previously supported by Rights & Democracy in Panama, such as Coordinadora national de mujeres indígenas de Panamá (CONAMUIP), and Centro de asistencia legal popular – Panama (CEALP), this project seeks to continue to administer pressure internationally for the implementation of national legislation respecting the intellectual property of indigenous peoples. It has been identified that indigenous art work is the sources of income for many indigenous groups. Being linked to self-determination and economic potential, protecting this unique aspect of culture will contribute to the development of communities. Aside from lobbying national governments and international organizations, this project also works to create an information exchange among indigenous groups, particularly in Peru, Venezuela, Panama and Canada.

Rights & Democracy invited Victoria Neuta, a member of the Women’s Commission of the Organización Nacional Ind?gena de Colombia (ONIC) and a member of the Continental Network of Indigenous Women, Enlace, for meetings in Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal in August 2005. The goal of the visit was to raise awareness among the media, government representatives, NGOs and the public about the human rights situation in Colombia, particularly with regard to indigenous peoples, and to present their peace-building strategies. The conflict, which has lasted for more than 45 years, has had a disastrous impact on the indigenous peoples of Colombia. While the Colombian constitution is one of the most progressive in terms of indigenous rights, the implementation of its provisions is far from being a reality. For example, according to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, several indigenous peoples are in danger of extinction as peoples.

Rights & Democracy continues its support of the Centro de Culturas Indias (CHIRAPAQ). Working together in order to further develop and promote the cultural identity of indigenous peoples in Peru, the project this year has also placed focus on the struggles of indigenous groups in other countries, notably in Canada. The organization, made up of indigenous associations comprised of a majority of women, set up a permanent training location for indigenous women leaders from the Andes and Amazonia. This training programme enables female leaders to play an influential role in the decision-making process and to develop a deeper understanding of the issues confronting them. The project also supports an international training workshop in partnership with the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

After more than ten years of arduous negotiations, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is finally on the verge of being adopted. The Declaration would be a first step toward recognizing the collective rights of indigenous peoples. During the last meetings of the Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, on December 5 to 16, 2005 and January 30 to February 3, 2006, consensus began to emerge around several articles of the Declaration that had frustrated prior discussions. Progress included provisional agreements on 21 paragraphs of the Preamble and 25 of the 45 Articles. The Chair of the working group, Luis Enrique Chávez, drafted a compromise text for each controversial article, taking into account the different points of view as much as possible. Before these meetings, only two articles of the Draft Declaration had met with consensus after more than ten years of negotiations. The text reflects the agreement of a majority of indigenous representatives involved in this process, as well as that of many States. Rights & Democracy has been following this issue since the beginning and works with the Canadian government and the UN to improve the climate of cooperation between indigenous leaders and government representatives. To help advance the negotiations, Rights & Democracy organized a technical seminar on the Declaration, in collaboration with the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and the Grand Council of the Crees, in Montréal from August 10 to 13, 2005. The workshop enabled the Indigenous Caucus to propose alternative solutions in order to move the negotiations forward.

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Rights & Democracy, Enlace ? the Continental Network of Indigenous Women – and Québec Native Women continue to strengthen their ties to increase cooperation among indigenous women in Canada and Latin America. Thanks to funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), a four-week internship is offered to four indigenous women, two from Canada and two from Latin America, to give them experience in international forums. The interns (one a young woman and the other an experienced activist), from organizations in Canada and Latin America, will spend a month with their co-interns’ organization to learn more about their respective situations and cultures. This training programme focuses on the situations of indigenous peoples in both the North and South.

Cooperation among Canadian and Latin American indigenous women is deepening, and Enlaceis working to consolidate this fact. Following a strategic planning exercise in 2004-2005, the network acquired greater operational autonomy. Over the past year, it has redesigned its Web site, put together a virtual library and increased its representation activities with various networks to strengthen ties with several partners.

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