United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Twelfth Session
United Nations Headquarters, New York
May 20-31, 2013

Intervention on Item 8: Discussions on the Development Agenda Beyond 2015

Joint Statement of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)

Mr. Chairperson,

The discussion on the development agenda beyond 2015 is of serious interest to indigenous peoples as we have been the subjects of development discourse for many years. Critical to the discourse on post 2015  development agenda is the issue of development aid and the current aid architecture particularly in relation to the Indigenous peoples.

Mr. Chair, whilst development aid from the onset, had been targeted at improving the welfare of the poorest populations, it is sad to note that the  over seventy years of aid practice have not assured any serious improvements in the  welfare and living conditions of Indigenous peoples  worldwide.
The failure of aid to lift Indigenous peoples from the rungs and bottom of the socio-economic ladder had been due to the invisibility of Indigenous peoples in the present global aid architecture. Indigenous peoples have been deliberately sidelined in the international aid discourse. To us Indigenous peoples, international aid has been far away from our day to day lives and experiences; and our only contact with international aid had been with development aggression which had accentuated our continuous struggles.

It is in this context that we believe that in moving forward ON the post 2015 development agenda, Indigenous peoples concerns and perspectives need to be brought into the orbit of the post 2015 aid agenda  to ensure that aid benefits trickle down to Indigenous peoples.

Mr. Chair, in the light of the above, we recommend the following:

1. We call on  the UNPFII to urge  donor countries and aid agencies to mainstream Indigenous peoples in the current aid discourse
2. Call  for the establishment of an inclusive mechanism that will ensure the effective participation of Indigenous peoples in the Global Partnership for Effective Development deliberations
3. We  request the inclusion of indigenous peoples who are already part  of the CSO Partnership for Development  Effectiveness
4. We call on donor countries and  aid agencies to promote capacity building activities for Indigenous peoples on aid issues
5. We call for enhanced information sharing amongst Indigenous peoples  and donor entities to ensure the understanding of Indigenous peoples perspectives on their own self-determined development
6. We  call on the UNPFII to support the creation of  an International Platform of  Indigenous peoples  and aid effectiveness