News on Land

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted on September 13, 2007 at the 61st session of the General Assembly in the UN headquarters, New York City, United States. The UNDRIP is a landmark accomplishment for the member-states of the UN recognising the rights of the world's indigenous population. The declaration addresses both individual and collective rights, cultural rights and identity, rights to education, health, employment, language and others.

Trans-Pacific View author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. Spencer Cohen – Senior Economist at Community Attributes, a Seattle-based research consultancy, and former senior policy adviser for the Washington Economic Development Commission – is the 102nd in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.” 

In which areas has China’s market reforms shown productive results?

BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA) will lead the tribal folk of the Cordillera Region in marking World Indigenous People’s Day on August 9, 2017 – with a vow to further assert their right to self-determination.

“Our common plight as indigenous peoples experiencing national oppression, discrimination, development aggression and human rights violations strengthens our resolve to unite with indigenous peoples and other oppressed sectors in the Philippines, as well as our brothers and sisters in other nations,” stated CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget.

NAIROBI — In the months leading up to Tuesday’s general election in Kenya, civil society organizations have been laying the groundwork to prevent the kind of violence that has erupted during elections past.

Amid concerns that tensions between communities could spill over into violence if the election outcome is not perceived as legitimate, organizations have been working in recent months to mitigate localized conflicts over issues such as resources, borders and land rights.

The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Working Group on Land Rights Act (LRA) has called on the legislature not to tamper with some of its provisions, saying it would defeat not only the fundamental purpose of the land reform, but also undermine peace, reconciliation, and development in Liberia.

The group is a coalition of CSOs working on community land rights across Liberia that is currently engaging stakeholders and lawmakers on the passage of the Draft Land Rights Act.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities are stewards of natural resources and nature. We have been conserving our territories for thousands of years. Each indigenous community has its own territory. For indigenous nomadic pastoralists our territory consists of summering grounds, wintering grounds, migration routes, stopovers and mid-way stations with different ecological, social, economic and cultural assets. These assets include forests, rangelands, wetlands, lakes, rivers, coasts, seas, and many other types of ecosystems and wildlife.

“It is high time to recognize and strengthen indigenous peoples’ own forms of governance and representation," the U.N. experts stressed.

Human rights advocates and specialist bodies at the United Nations have demanded an end to the discrimination, exclusion and lack of protections for Indigenous peoples around the globe.

This call comes ahead of the tenth annual International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, which will take place Wednesday.

Rebels imposed environmental rules remote rainforest regions, government struggling to fill power vacuum

Bauxite has played a role more critical than perhaps any other bit of dirt in the modern land rights struggle.

The 1963 Yirrkala bark petit­ions protesting an Arnhem Land deal to mine the ore used to make aluminium arguably kicked off the drive to legally reclaim indig­enous property.

It was to be a profound matter not merely of ownership, but of deep cultural identity; of connection to country.