A-Z Site Index
Menu
  1. Recommendations Database
  2. UN agencies, Member States
  3. UN agencies, Member States
Download PDF

Addressee: UN agencies, Member States

Paragraph #44Session #5 (2006)

Full Text

The Platform for Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, included indigenous women among those who had encountered particular barriers to full equality and advancement, both as women and as members of their communities. The review and appraisal of the Beijing Platform for Action acknowledged that indigenous women continued to face many obstacles and challenges, which included multiple forms of discrimination based on gender, race and ethnicity, as well as the impact of globalization and environmental degradation.

Responses

UNICEF reports: “In line with its mission statement, UNICEF works to promote the rights of indigenous women and girls. As evidenced in its publication State of the World’s Children 2007: Executive Summary, UNICEF believes that gender equality benefits women and children and has a tremendous positive impact on the development of society as a whole. In Guatemala, UNICEF has supported the strengthening of a municipal system of scholarship for indigenous girls from some of the poorest municipalities of the country. In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, UNICEF strengthened and promoted a strategy for the care for women victims of violence in Zulia through the publication of awareness-raising material. In Bolivia, a gender-sensitive literacy programme for rural women’s councils is being supported to help indigenous women leaders not only know how to read and write but also have more influence on municipal councils regarding legal and administrative procedures. In Colombia, in 2006, UNICEF provided technical assistance to local indigenous women’s organizations in the department of Narino to include a gender focus into the strengthening of youth organizations. A total of 650 men and women were thereby engaged in a collective reflection on gender equity, which had a positive impact in reducing violence and increasing indigenous women’s participation in managing local organizations.”

Final Report of UNPFII Session 5 (2006)

Area of Work

Indigenous Women