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Addressee: Member States, UN agencies, funds and programs
Full Text
States, United Nations agencies, funds and programs should mobilize support for indigenous peoples who are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters.
Responses
The International Fund for Agricultural Development provided a country-specific grant of USD500,000 to Guatemala (National Peace Fund) to assist households affected by Hurricane Stan. Please see E/C.19/2006/6/Add.1 for more details. UNICEF works within indigenous peoples affected by emergencies, be they complex emergencies or natural disasters. In Colombia, it has continue to promote peace by the development of children and adolescents through the construction of lifestyle models, centered on football. This initiative benefits more than 19,000 children, including indigenous children, their families and their communities. Four plans for the prevention of forced recruitment have been formulated by indigenous Councils; 47 indigenous adolescents participate on high-level councils of their communities; and more than 60 indigenous adolescents are implementing productive projects. UNICEF assisted communities in the Philippines following the December 2005 floods. The beneficiaries were the upland poor families and the indigenous Agta, Dumagat and Remontado communities residing in the mountain ranges of Eastern Luzon. Please see E/C.19/2006/6/Add.11 for more details. UN-HABITAT's activities in the field of disaster mitigation, post conflict and safety in the context of human settlements, is related to the housing and living conditions of indigenous peoples in most cases. After the Tsunami disaster in South East Asia last year, UN-HABITAT took part in the relief and reconstruction activities jointly with other United Nations agencies, particularly with UNDP which is still ongoing. In the Aceh region in Indonesia, such efforts focused on land issues and were undertaken in three dimensions: (1) relocation of entire settlements where destruction of Tsunami was signficant; (2) readjustment within existing settlements where destruction was partial; and (3) settlement upgrading where in situ improvement was feasible. Land issues being fundamentallly important for the indigenous peoples, these activities are directly affecting the lives of many indigenous peoples. UN-HABITAT's participatory mapping and Community Action Plan process enables community members to take an active role in (re)-establishing formal occupancy rights throughout the Tsunami affected areas. The mapping of plot ownership in new or rehabilitated villages will become the basis for the registration and provision of land certificates. E/C.19/2006/6/Add.2. UNESCO is addressing the special needs of indigenous communities for post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction in the aftermath of the Tsunami of December 2004 by leading the project on "Rehabilitation of Traditional Communities and Municipalities" in tsunami-affected areas of Thailand. The project, with the support of UNDP, focuses on indigenous Moken and Urak Lawoi communities that were severely impacted by the natural disaster. In order to best meet the lifestyle of the communities, it is essential that cultural heritage and traditional lifestyle be considered, and that communities are empowered to actively participate in post-tsunami development. E/C.19/2006/6/Add.9
Final Report of UNPFII Session 4 (2005)
Area of Work
