On the occasion of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Program of the Institute for the Study of Human Rights pays tribute to the struggles of the Indigenous Peoples for dignity, justice and human rights and stands in solidarity with Indigenous human rights defenders.
The International Day of the Wold's Indigenous Peoples is celebrated today with events around the world. The International Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly and was first marked in 1994. The date was selected to honor August 9th, 1982, the first day of the very first UN human rights body established to deal with Indigenous Peoples rights, i.e. the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations. This Working Group worked tirelessly with the Indigenous Peoples' movement and laid down the groundwork for the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 10 years ago, on September 13th, 2007.
The statement issued today by the three UN Indigenous rights-related bodies can be found here.
The statement of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples' Issues, composed of more than 40 agencies can be found here.
