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Addressee: Development agencies, Indigenous People's Organizations,
Full Text
Relations between development agencies and the organizations of indigenous peoples should be direct and not relayed through intermediate institutions of the dominant society
Responses
The Government of Switzerland reports the following in its report (E/C.19/2006/4/Add.1) to the fifth session:
This paragraph is problematic. It points to concerns by indigenous peoples' organizations and communities that governments or other NGOs do not take account of indigenous peoples concerns and/or 'disempower' by implementing programs without their participation or consent. The difficulty is that development agencies often work directly with governments, which the paragraph is critical of. Some indigneous communities also have weak capacities and need assistance of external actors to have an effective dialogue with development agencies. This paragraph may therefore have implications for the operationa modalities of Swiss Development Cooperation.
The ILO operates on the basis of consultation and participation with indigenous and tribal peoples, but is also mindful of the challenges of working with small indigenous organizations, particularly in respect of the organizational gap that often exists between the international and the local levels. It is also important to bear in mind the problematic of imposing the organizational logic of international organizations on indigenous peoples. There is a need for intermediate organizations, however this can often be an intermediate step to capacity building of indigenous peoples themselves since it creates a means of linkage between international, national and local level frameworks. Please see E/C.19/2006/6 for ILO's experience and lessons learned in this regard in Cambodia and Kenya.
Final Report of UNPFII Session 4 (2005)
Area of Work
