They also advocated for the empowerment of girls, young and indigenous women in the world as agents of change.
The International Indigenous Women's Forum (FIMI) in conjunction with the participation of 21 indigenous women from six regions of the world (North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Arctic and Pacific), participants of the Indigenous Women's Global Leadership School, attended the fifteenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on indigenous Issues(UNPFII by its acronym in English) held in New York City to discuss and advocate on this year's theme "indigenous peoples: conflict resolution and peace"
FIMI actively supported the articulation and coordination between indigenous women and other strategic actors for the positioning of indigenous women's political statement related to their role, participation and contribution in peace processes and conflict resolution. It is of great concern the critical conflict situations that indigenous communities still face, where children, youth and indigenous women are daily exposed to multiple expressions of violence because of the defense of their individual and collective rights.
In this context, FIMI developed, for the fourth consecutive year, the face-to-face session of the International Program on Human Rights and International Advocacy Skills from the Indigenous Women's Global Leadership School; which parts from the intersectionality of processes, combining capacity building, participation and advocacy, empowerment and the strengthening of indigenous women's movement. The program took place from May 2nd to May 13th in collaboration with the Institute for the Study of Human Rights(ISHR) from Columbia University.
The first week of the face-to-face workshop was focused on the strengthening of knowledge and experiences, preparing the participants for the second week of the program that coincides with the beginning of the session of the Permanent Forum, important platform to carry out advocacy. The participants organized a side event as part of the implementation and sharing of knowledge that they acquired. They spoke on behalf of their regional organizations through interventions in interactive dialogues and sessions with a list of speakers.
For the third consecutive year, FIMI promoted a coordination meeting of indigenous women, held a day before starting the session of the Permanent Forum, bringing together 46 indigenous women from different regions of the world, in order to exchange information, get to know the participation methodology for the Forum and generate articulations and support on their political statements.
In addition, with the aim to strengthen the partnerships with local, regional and international networks of indigenous women, a discussion with strategic partners such as the Ford Foundation, the International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and MADRE was developed; focusing the analysis and debate on the challenges and progress in the empowerment of indigenous women.
FIMI envisions that the empowerment of indigenous women is possible through continuous horizontal dialogues between decision-making stakeholders. In this sense, a side event was organized on March 16th addressing "Peace, justice and dignity", with the purpose of providing guidelines and make commitments to implement strategies on conflict resolution and achieve a dignified life and social justice.
The panel began with a spiritual reflection by Rosalina Tuyucof Conavigua, Guatemala, moderated by Mirna Cunningham, First Vice President of the Indigenous Fund and integrated by the Ambassadors of Brazil and Canada, the Section of Women, Peace and Security of UN Women, the Alliance of Indigenous Women of Central America and Mexico, the President of the Indigenous Fund and renowned women's leaders in peace processes such as Aida Quilcue of Colombia; Sandra Creamer of Australia; Winnie Kodi of Sudan, and the intervention of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz.
One of the recommendations emphasized by indigenous women at the Permanent Forum was the inclusion of the issue of empowerment of indigenous women in the next session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2017, the in-depth analysis of the Declaration of the Rights of indigenous Peoples, the Final Document of the World Conference and the States' commitment on the implementation of the Development Agenda 2030 with the full participation of indigenous women.
The indigenous women's leaders took advantage of the Forum to urge States to promote actions for the reparations of indigenous women victims of armed conflicts and put to an end the militarization of the indigenous territories. They also demanded justice and protection for the criminalization of human rights indigenous peoples' women defenders, who daily, and in various regions of the world are victims of violations of their human rights, where impunity for these actions still remains.
They also added, that the processes of conflict resolution and peace will only be possible when the right to free, prior and informed consent is respected, both by States and by large corporations, materializing this practice in plans and programs aimed to strengthen the role of indigenous women as agents of change.
"One of the main conclusions as indigenous women, brothers and sisters, is that women and indigenous peoples want peace in our territories, peace in our homes, and we want peace and respect in our bodies, in our public lives, private, spiritual and physical", added Tarcila Rivera Zea, FIMI's President, a well-known Quechua leader from Peru.