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INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES – AUGUST 9 – INDIGENOUS WOMEN

Photo: UN Women/ Ryan Brown

It is estimated that there are more than 370 million indigenous people across 70 countries worldwide. Indigenous women face many forms of discrimination and violence, both as women and as indigenous peoples, and face different obstacles in overcoming these issues daily.

The focus of this year's International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples [9 August] is “Post 2015 Agenda: Ensuring indigenous peoples health and well-being”. Indigenous women experience disproportionate difficulties in access to health care, as well as higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, malnutrition and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria. Though indigenous women are counted upon to support the health and well-being of their families, they often face hurdles to access the resources to build the foundation of a better life, such as education and land.

UN Women actively supports indigenous women around the world to ensure that their rights are respected and their concerns heard through our Fund for Gender Equality programmes to increase economic empowerment and political participation, UN Trust Fund grants to end violence against indigenous women and girls, or other targeted UN Women research or programmes.

Spotlight on Asia and the Pacific: An estimated 70 per cent of the world’s indigenous peoples live in Asia and the Pacific, and UN Women programmes and funds have been making a change in indigenous women’s lives through strengthening advocacy and information delivery about women’s rights.

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The Impacts of Land Dispossession on Indigenous Women

Authors/editor(s): Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)/Luchie Maranan

Direct Link to Full 9-Page 2015 Publication:

Indigenous women in Cambodia, Indonesia and India were targeted for this project because massive land alienation and land concession projects are taking place in the name of development, which are adversely affecting many indigenous communities. Among the destructive projects that are being implemented in these countries are large-scale rubber and palm oil plantations and mining. These projects have led to systematic violations against the individual and collective rights of the affected communities such as forced relocation, threats and harassments against protesting indigenous peoples and loss of livelihood among others. Indigenous women have been working alongside their communities to defend their land and livelihood from destructive projects but have not been spared as they are also subjected to harassments, rape and sexual abuse.

There are opportunities in the said countries though for the protection and promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples in general and indigenous women in particular. Through the project activities, capacity of indigenous women in the project areas has been enhanced. They have gained knowledge and skills, and confidence to document the situation of indigenous women to assert their rights. Moreover being in collaboration with the UN Women has opened up space for indigenous women to engage with the governments, intergovernmental bodies and processes, and other actors for the promotion and protection of their individual and collective rights.