Organization: International Work Group For Indigenous Affairs

Created: Jan 26, 2008
Updated: Nov 27, 2009
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International Work Group For Indigenous Affairs
(a.k.a.: IWGIA)

( Network/ Coalition/ Collective )

Organization Info [Edit]

Activities:	Activist, Educational, Networking, Research

Type:	Network/ Coalition/ Collective

Scope:	international

We Speak:	English

Website:	http://www.iwgia.org/

Main Email:	iwgia [at] iwgia.org

Contact Name:	Lola García-Alix

Contact Email:	lga [at] iwgia.org

Phone:	(+45) 35 27 05 00

Fax:	(+45) 35 27 05 07

Headquarters:	Classensgade 11 E Copenhagen DK 2100 Denmark

Local Time:	Sun Nov 29 04:36:56

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IWGIA's Mission Statement

IWGIA is an independent international membership organisation staffed by specialists and advisers on indigenous affairs.

Aims and activities

IWGIA supports indigenous peoples' struggle for human rights, self-determination, right to territory, control of land and resources, cultural integrity, and the right to development.

IWGIA collaborates with indigenous peoples' organizations all over the world.
Documentation about indigenous affairs is an essential part of IWGIA's work. IWGIA publishes books, periodicals and a yearbook about indigenous peoples.
IWGIA holds consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is an observer to the Arctic Council.
The basis for IWGIA's activities is an integrated approach which aims to combine the key activities documentation and publication, human rights work, political lobbying and projects. IWGIA's work is primarily funded by the Nordic Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the European Union.

IWGIA's convictions

IWGIA recognizes that

All peoples in the world have the right to existence.
Indigenous peoples, belonging to the most marginalized and impoverished groups in the world, have the right to be recognized and to have their basic human rights respected. In particular indigenous peoples have the right to be able to survive as peoples and to maintain and develop their cultures based on their own aspirations, visions and identity.
Indigenous peoples' knowledge, modes of production and their relationship to nature can guide and inform processes that aim to combat poverty and environmental degradation.
Indigenous peoples have a unique cultural heritage and they should play an important role in preserving rich cultural diversity in an increasingly globalized world.

IWGIA's task

It is IWGIA's main task to

Produce, document and disseminate information about the contemporary situations of indigenous peoples.
Ensure that the situation of indigenous peoples is placed firmly on the agenda of stratetically important international and regional fora.
Support indigenous peoples and their own organizations in developing and implementing activities, which aim to build their own capacity and to empower them to advocate and advance their own cause effectively.
Influence major donor organizations and other national and international institutions.

The principles

The principles cement IWGIA's mission statement and embody the convictions on which we base our work:

A rights based approach

IWGIA's work with indigenous peoples is, first of all, guided by a rights based approach. A key principle for IWGIA is that human rights are a fundamental tool for improving the economic and political situation of marginalised indigenous peoples.

Indigenous peoples are in many cases excluded from decision-making processes concerning their future. They are often deprived of their basic human rights, and examples of discrimination are numerous. A basic principle for IWGIA is that indigenous peoples' rights should be recognised and respected by the state in which the peoples live, and by the society that surrounds them, and that indigenous peoples should be involved in all decisions that concern their future.

IWGIA works with all the human rights regimes including political, economic, social and cultural rights. We put special emphasis on collective rights such as the right to self-determination and development on their own conditions, indigenous peoples' collective rights to land, the right to non-discrimination and the right to retain their own language and culture.

The right to self-determination

A key principle for IWGIA's work is the promotion of the right to self-determination. Self-determination embodies the right for all peoples to determine their own economic, social and cultural development. Self-determination implies the right to participate in the democratic process of governance and decision-making and for indigenous peoples to determine their own future. It is important to stress that for most indigenous peoples the term self-determination does not imply secession from the state.

The right of self-determination of peoples is a fundamental principle in international law. It is embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The situation of indigenous peoples cannot be improved in the long run without challenging the dominating discourses and the power structures of the countries in which they live. It is these discourses and power structures that often underpin indigenous peoples' marginalization and it is therefore these root factors that need to be addressed. Indigenous peoples need to have genuine representation in political decision-making processes to be able to influence policy discussions and reforms.

The right to development and fundamental resources

In as far as the protection of individual human rights are important for indigenous peoples, as for all other people, the protection of collective rights to development and fundamental resources are also crucial. Indigenous peoples are amongst the most neglected and poorest of the world and they need a just distribution of fundamental resources, such as land, water and other natural resources, as well as other key resources like health, education, market access and information.

The key problem is indigenous peoples' lack of rights and access to land and water and to other natural resources found on their traditional territories. Traditional territories and access to land are the basis for indigenous peoples' culture and a healthy and sustainable society.

Indigenous peoples need to build their capacity to lobby the major national and international players who carry out programmes and large-scale operations in indigenous peoples' areas. IWGIA wishes to promote indigenous peoples' collective rights to fundamental resources, including renewable and non-renewable resources, and their crucial role in the decision-making, distribution and development of these resources.

The need for poverty reduction

Indigenous peoples are usually characterised as being among the poorest of the poor, not only because they are economically deprived but also because they are deprived of social, cultural and political rights, and lack livelihood options.

IWGIA understands poverty in a broad sense as not only being lack of income but also being lack of equality and dignity. It is a key principle for IWGIA to contribute to poverty alleviation among indigenous peoples by promoting self-determination and fundamental collective rights.

The need for constructive conflict resolution

Indigenous peoples are often victims of violent conflicts. They are often caught in- between different fighting fractions such as government troops, private militia and, rebellion groups. Due to their vulnerable position they are easily taken hostage by either side, resulting in tremendous suffering. Indigenous peoples in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and North East India are presently examples of this. The war against terror is another factor that is seriously impacting on some indigenous peoples. The US anti terror campaign in the Sahel might, for instance, run the risk of re-invoking conflict between governments and the marginalized nomadic populations. In several other cases the fight against terror is used to crack down on critical (but legitimate and non-violent) indigenous organizations.

Indigenous peoples have institutions of their own or are involved in institutions that have the potential to promote peaceful conflict resolution and to promote the quest of indigenous peoples to be treated equally with other peoples. IWGIA wishes to support such institutions and to contribute to peaceful conflict resolution and constructive debates and agreement between states and indigenous peoples and their organizations.

Respect for indigenous women's rights

Indigenous women experience many forms of discrimination, not only from the surrounding society but also from within their own communities. In situations of armed conflict they are also particular targets of violence and oppression. Although women play a crucial role both as reproducers, producers and caretakers of their societies and cultures, and of the well being of their communities, the importance of their social role is not always recognised. In many places indigenous women are increasingly becoming aware and critical of their status and the ways in which they are treated, and they try to organise themselves and assert their rights as women and as indigenous people. IWGIA wishes to promote gender relations based on equity and mutual respect.

Gender relations are a complex field and indigenous communities carry many different views on the issue of women's rights. IWGIA's approach is based on principles of fundamental human rights and we wish to facilitate indigenous women's rights to determine their own future and to support indigenous women's own efforts while also being aware that it is important to promote awareness amongst indigenous men. It is of particular importance to promote activities that recognise the aspirations of young indigenous women for establishing their own positions in society.

Equitable cooperation between partners

IWGIA emphasizes an equitable cooperation with our partners based on mutual trust and respect.

IWGIA collaborates with partners at different levels:

Project support to indigenous organizations and their target communities.
Collaboration with indigenous organizations, individual representatives of indigenous organizations and other human rights advocates in doing international human rights advocacy work.
Collaboration with representatives of indigenous organizations and other human rights advocates in producing documentation on the situation of indigenous peoples.
Maintaining a large distribution network for the IWGIA documentation to indigenous organizations, human rights activists, researchers, development organizations, international agencies etc.

IWGIA is convinced that sustainable development can only be promoted if the groups who are to benefit from the activities in question are also the ones who identify, plan and implement the activities. Thus, project ideas originate from or are developed with indigenous organisations themselves and are implemented and managed directly by the indigenous organisations. IWGIA's role in relation to partners is to give advice, be a dialogue partner and monitor activities.

IWGIA's main criteria when choosing partner organisations is that it is an indigenous organisation recognised by the indigenous group that they claim to represent, that it works within our focus areas and that it has a minimum level of capacity. The majority of IWGIA's project partners are indigenous organisations but where this is not possible IWGIA sometimes enters into cooperation with non-indigenous NGOs that are respected and recognised by the communities or indigenous organisations with whom they work. Since, as a principle, IWGIA does not implement projects itself, it is particularly important that the counterpart and partner have the capacity to do so.

In order to empower our indigenous partner organizations in the South, IWGIA has developed a so-called "South-South strategy". The key element of this is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience between indigenous groups from different regions and countries. Indigenous peoples and their organisations around the world often share similar conditions and face similar problems. Yet they often feel isolated in a hostile world, with few or no contacts with other indigenous groups. Learning about other indigenous peoples, communicating with them and exchanging experiences is therefore an interesting and empowering experience for individuals, communities and organisations - seeing themselves as part of a world-wide community. It also allows indigenous peoples to be informed about global development trends and issues that affect their livelihoods and future existence. It creates networks and alliances that will increase their capacity to address the problems they are confronted with and to establish dialogues with states, state institutions and international agencies.

Areas of work and geographic scope

As spelled out in IWGIA's mission statement, our work centers around 3 main pillars, which ultimately aim at bringing about positive changes in the lives of indigenous peoples:

Support to activities at national/local level implemented directly by partner organizations. These activities are mainly focused at organizational empowerment building, promotion and protection of land rights, awareness creation about the human rights situation of indigenous peoples and community capacity building and mobilization. Support to local projects and programmes is of key importance in order to directly support agents of change at local and national levels without which no meaningful progress can be achieved.
Support to international human rights advocacy work. Main focus areas are the UN and regional institutions such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Organization of American States and the Arctic Council. Support to advocacy and lobby work at international level serves three major purposes. Firstly it aims at impacting on international standard setting and the international law regime. Secondly it aims at leading to the establishment of institutions and the formulation of resolutions and documents which can be used by different stakeholders to put pressure on governments and serve as instruments of negotiation. Thirdly it serves to build the advocacy capacity of representatives of indigenous organizations.
Production of documentation about the situation of indigenous peoples and information to a global audience ranging from indigenous organizations and human rights activists to researchers, development organizations and international agencies. Solid research, documentation and dissemination of information is important in order to inform and strengthen concrete advocacy work carried out at local, national and international levels.

IWGIA aims at combining and integrating these 3 different areas of work in order to contribute as effectively as possible to the fulfillment of our vision.

IWGIA reaches out to all parts of the world and has over the years build up a large network with indigenous organizations. Networking and information dissemination is maintained with indigenous organizations in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Russia, Scandinavia, Greenland, Canada, the US, Australia and other parts of the South Pacific. Local project activities are supported in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Russia, and support for participation in international advocacy work is likewise mainly focused on representatives from Latin America, Asia, Africa and Russia.

Identification of indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples are the disadvantaged descendants of those peoples who inhabited a territory prior to colonisation or formation of the present state. The term indigenous is defined by characteristics that relate to the identity of a particular people in a particular area, and that distinguish them culturally from other people or peoples.

When, for example, immigrants from Europe settled in the Americas and Oceania, or when new states were created after colonialism was abolished in Africa and Asia, certain peoples became marginalised and discriminated against, because their language, their religion, their culture and their whole way of life were different and perceived by the dominant society as being inferior. Insisting on their right to self-determination is indigenous peoples' way of overcoming these obstacles.

Today many indigenous peoples are still excluded from society and often even deprived of their rights as equal citizens of a state. Nevertheless they are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories and their ethnic identity. Self-identification as an indigenous individual and acceptance as such by the group is an essential component of indigenous peoples' sense of identity. Their continued existence as peoples is closely connected to their possibility to influence their own fate and to live in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems.

At least 350 million people worldwide are considered to be indigenous. Most of them live in remote areas in the world. Indigenous peoples are divided into at least 5000 peoples ranging from the forest peoples of the Amazon to the tribal peoples of India and from the Inuit of the Arctic to the Aborigines in Australia. Very often they inhabit land, which is rich in minerals and natural resources.

Indigenous peoples have prior rights to their territories, lands and resources, but often these have been taken from them or are threatened. They have distinct cultures and economies compared to those of the dominant society. Indigenous peoples' self-identification as indigenous is a crucial part of their identity.

Indigenous peoples face serious difficulties such as the constant threat of territorial invasion and murder, the plundering of their resources, cultural and legal discrimination, as well as a lack of recognition of their own institutions.