Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

AIPP Briefing Note: Voices of Indigenous Women From The Asia-Pacific

PUBLIC STATEMENT
For immediate release

Indigenous Women from the Asia-Pacific make their voices heard in Rio+20
18 June 2012

Ignoring indigenous women in sustainable development initiatives not only violates their rights, but also critically impedes the very planning and implementation of those initiatives, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) says in its new briefing note.

The briefing note, Voices of Indigenous Women from the Asia-Pacific Region, will be presented during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, popularly known as Rio+20, taking place from June 22-24, 2012 in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.

“Indigenous women are an important part of a community’s social capital,” says Shimreichon Luithui, AIPP’s Indigenous Women’s Programme Coordinator, “With their gender-specific knowledge, skills, social relations and networks they can make contributions which are critical in designing viable, practical solutions to the challenges of sustainable development.”

Indigenous women face double discrimination – because of their ethnicity and their sex – and this leads to their extreme marginalisation. This discrimination, the note argues, leads to a very one-sided view and omits all the natural resources, knowledge and aspects of the environment that are traditionally reserved for the female sphere.

In order to enhance voices of indigenous women in Rio+20, AIPP is facilitating the participation of six indigenous women delegates from the Cook Islands, India, Lao PDR, Nepal, the Philippines and Samoa. The delegates will take part in a number of side events and make presentations on numerous indigenous women’s issues.

The delegates can be met during the Rio+20 from June 17 to 22 for press enquiries and interviews.