Delivered by Eleanor P. Dictaan – Bang-oa

UNPFII 24^th Session

10^th Plenary Meeting, 28 April 2025

Item 5 (d) Human rights dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; annual review of progress on the implementation of general recommendation No. 39 (2022)

Thank you, Madam Chairperson.

Distinguished Chair, Members of the Permanent Forum and Member States,

This year marks the 30^th year of the Beijing Platform for Action where Indigenous Women were there asserting their perspectives through the Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women which was adopted by the 4^th World Women’s Conference.  In 2022, CEDAW General Recommendation No. 39 was adopted and is the most recent milestone in the advancement of the status and rights of Indigenous Women and Girls.  In 2024, the UN Women report on the implementation of the SDGs have it that: “Ending extreme poverty among women could take 137 more years at the current rate of change. No country has all relevant laws to prohibit discrimination, prevent gender-based violence, uphold equal rights in marriage and divorce, guarantee equal pay, and provide full access to sexual and reproductive health. (https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2024/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2024).

On all fronts, indigenous women are being left behind. The lack of data on the achievement of the SDGs among indigenous peoples especially indigenous women and girls speak of this marginalization in status.

·      Jarai women in Cambodia   have to spend  5-6 hours daily  to ensure water for household use due to water scarcity resulting from  corporate deforestation exacerbated by the prolonged drought and the operation of a hydroelectric power dam; Kachin women and children in Myanmar are disproportionately affected by water poisoning  and other impacts of  a rare earth mineral mining industry, political instability, conflicts and militarization ( Sophie Marsden. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/transition-minerals-climate-solution-could-cost-earth/   July 10, 2024).

·      Coupled with other factors such as poverty from loss of lands and conflict, Indigenous women and girls are prey to prostitution and trafficking in Thailand. Similar reports of increased prostitution among indigenous women In Northeast India, prostitution have reportedly risen resulting to increased cases of HIV. The lack of appropriate information on HIV and stigma is reportedly causing high demoralization among the youth.

·      34 Jumma women and children, ages 3 to 75, documented from January 2023 to June 2024. 1,330 Indigenous women and girls raped in 2021 – 2022 by state and non-state actors. In 2022, there were 8 cases of which hunting resulting the death of 9 indigenous women.  (IWGIA. Indigenous World 2023 and 2024).

·      14 Teduray-Lambiangan women and children out of 65  have reportedly  been killed from 2020 – August 2024, from  land-related attacks. Some 3,000 were rendered homeless due to the same interest in 2021.

The report further cites that “legal protection of women’s land rights remains grossly inadequate.”

The right to land and property is basic to the empowerment of women from poverty and is intricately linked to achieving the SDGs for women. The protection of Indigenous women’s right to land is not only crucial in their physical, social and economic development but also unlocks indigenous women’s potentials and strengthens their contributions to resilience against the current environmental, economic, social and political crises.

Distinguished Chair, Members of this Forum and Member States,

We, the Asia Indigenous Women’s Network (AIWN) and the Indigenous Peoples’ International Center for Policy Research and Education / Tebtebba, Inc. recommend for the Permanent Forum (On Indigenous Issues), in collaboration with the UN Women and other UN Agencies, to declare a UN Decade for Indigenous Women and girls as part of or in preparation to the 2^nd decade of the UNDRIP.

The decade should:

·      draw attention to the significant but undervalued roles Indigenous Women play in sustaining life, sustaining the earth, and, their contributions to global resilience;

·      provide space and resources to advance information and accelerate meaningful state operationalization of CEDAW GR 39;

·      mobilize resources to address the impacts of historical discrimination among indigenous women and girls towards leveraging their positions; and

·      galvanize support towards ending discrimination on Indigenous Women and Girls and more inclusive and responsive approaches in responding to their needs and priorities, including the recognition of Indigenous Peoples by member States.

Distinguished Chair, Members of this Forum and Member States,

INDIGENOUS WOMEN ARE RIGHTSHOLDERS. 

AS EQUAL ACTORS, INDIGENOUS WOMEN DESERVE MORE THAN JUST A LANGUAGE OF INCLUSION IN POLICY RHETORICS.

Thank you for your attention!