Introduction

The AIWN was instrumental in convening the indigenous women’s tent in Beijing and the drafting of the Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women (BDIW). This Declaration clarifies where the indigenous women’s movement is coming from with an overarching demand for “all governments and international nongovernmental and governmental organizations to recognize the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination and enshrine the historical, political, social, cultural, economic and religious rights of indigenous peoples in their constitutions and legal systems”. Most of the points raised in the BDIW were adopted in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action with 44 direct references to indigenous women.

This call   resonated 18 years after. During the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, in 20103 in Lima, Peru, indigenous women declared to ““assert our right to self-determination, which encompasses the direct, full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples; including the vital role of Indigenous women in all matters related to our human rights, political status, and well- being. We endorse the principle: “Nothing about us, without us", and further declare "Everything about us, with us.” They also reiterated the SDGs and all initiatives for development should be rights-based, non-discriminatory, and responsive to culture.

While progress have been and are being reported, the experiences of indigenous women reflects how these is not being felt on the ground. The side event will showcase   how they are struggling and responding to the challenges to their visions of empowerment and development amidst prevailing conditions of structural discrimination, poverty and conflict. These narratives are found in a recently published book entitled “UNHEARD and UNSEEN:  Indigenous Women’s Path to Empowerment and Sustainable Development” – an initiative by the AIWN to advance the voices and visibility of indigenous women.

Specifically, the side-event will:

1. Provide highlights of the latest initiative by indigenous women in Asia to document their stories of struggles and success in relation to peace, justice and strong institutions;
2. Advance recommendations on effective inclusion of indigenous women in realizing SDG 16 in particular and its intersectionalities with the SDGs in general.

Tentative Program on April 27, Tuesday (exact time to be announced):

1.    Preliminaries (5 minutes)

2.    Rationale (10 minutes)

3.    Panel 1: Thematic presentations (30 minutes or 5 minutes each speaker)

               a)   Conflict transformation  

               b)   Participation  

               c)    Food security, Land and resources

               d)    Identities, Discrimination and ViolenceQ&A

 Q and A

4. Panel 2: Recommendations (25 minutes); 3-5 minutes each speaker

                a) South Asia

                b) South East Asia

                c) Mekong

Q&A

5. Responses:

               a) UNPFII

               b) UN Women

6. Wrap-up