2018 Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

 

 

2018 Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Yon Fernandez-de-Larrinoa, FAO Indigenous Peoples Team Leader

Madame Chairperson,

Distinguished delegates,

Last year when we reunited we made a commitment.

We agreed that in 2018 we would work to increase the participation of indigenous women in policy discussions and decisions making processes.

To honour this commitment, FAO and the Government of Mexico organized a High Level Forum on Indigenous Women to Eradicate Hunger and Malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Forum gathered 156 participants, including 25 Government officers; 57 regional indigenous organizations; 42 national organizations; and 17 UN Representatives.

Three important conclusions came out from the discussions:

a)   The importance of disaggregated data on Indigenous Women to end the invisibility that some countries impose on them by systematically ignoring their participation in decision making and policy design.

Data will also reduce indigenous women killing, disappearance and some of the atrocities that some of them face across the world

b)  The importance of designing tailored rural and financial services to close existing inequality gaps.  In this context, guaranteeing indigenous women collective rights and access to land, territories and resources is fundamental.

c)    The importance of differentiated public policies that include interculturality and with adequate budget allocations. Policies where indigenous women have been consulted and participated. Where their ancestral knowledge is recognized. Where their human rights are guaranteed.

FAO Director General has made indigenous women a priority, valuing them as fundamental actors to ensure food security and eradicate poverty.

In this context, FAO, FIMI and NOTIMIA launched in January a global campaign on indigenous women.

The campaign raises awareness on the contributions that indigenous women make to food security. The campaign advocates for countries to design national policies of rural development and gender equality that address the specific needs of indigenous women.

Today, more than 60 organizations, foundations and universities all over the world have joined and are involved in the activities of the campaign.

FAO has made indigenous youth one of its priority areas of work. Last year, for the first time, 18 indigenous youth, 15 of them women, accessed internship opportunities at FAO field and headquarter offices.

To conclude, let me say that FAO continues working with the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus in the design of an indigenous youth forum to discuss about the challenges they are facing.

Thank you.