Joint Statement- Indigenous Children and Youth

Supported by:
Indigenous Youth Caucus, Lipan Apache Womens Defense, Centro De Cultura Pueblo Nación Mapuche Pelon Xaru, Cabildo Wayuu Nouna de Campamento, Movimiento de Juventud Kuna, Youth Challenge International – Costa Rica.


Statement on Agenda Iten 8(a)- Indigenous Children and Youth

Good morning Madame Chair, Permanent Forum members, State delegates, brothers and sisters. We would like to acknowledge the peoples of this land, the rivers, the seas and all living beings that inhabit this place from time immerial.

My name is Alancay Morales Garro, young indigenous person from the Brunka people in Costa Rica. I speak on behalf of my organization, Kus Kura, The Central American Indigenous Youth Network and the Indigenous Youth Caucus.

I’m the director the “Indigenous Youth Empowerment for a Borderless Region” project, coordinated by Kus Kura S.C., Movimiento de Juventud Kuna and Youth Challenge International, sponsored by the European Union. This project is being carried out with 12 indigenous peoples groups from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

This initiative responds to the recommendations given by youth participants of the Iberoamerican Summit in 2005 and the UNPFII in its sessions of 2003 and 2006, regarding indigenous youth participation at local, national and international levels. As it is widely known, active indigenous youth participation on decision making processes local, national and international is very limited. This represents serious consequences for actual and future beneficiaries of our peoples, since youth perspectives have been done through adults, thus, these processes have left outside approximately 30% of the indigenous population.

Active participation of indigenous youth will allow an effective impact on different levels and it will strengthen cultural and experience exchanges between youth representatives from the region.

This is a Youth-Led development initiative, by young people, for young people. Which has allowed us to have professional and personal growth as present and future leaders, preparing us for the challenges we must face in the future.

Among the priority themes, we are developing issues such as: youth empowerment, policy implementation and regional union of Indigenous Peoples. With the analysis of these issues, we make progress to overcome the exclusion and vulnerability situation that we currently face as young indigenous people.

This initiative contributes to the empowerment of young indigenous people in Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala, allowing us to grow as leaders and participate in the self-determination of our peoples according to our aspirations and needs, as it is clearly stated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other international human rights instruments.

Madame Chair,

We Recommend that:

- The eventual membership of Indigenous Youth as Permament Forum Members.

- The Permanent Forum supports initiatives that strengthen and guarantee indigenous youth empowerment for our effective participation on different levels and decision making processes.

With respect and humility from our organizations and the Indigenous Youth Caucus, we offer to socialize the positive results of this experience in Central America, in order to develop similar initiatives in other regions of the world, aiming to guarantee the empowerment of indigenous youth.

Thank you very much!

Alancay Morales Garro

E-mail: alancaym@kus-kura.org

Eriel Deranger

Indigenous Youth Caucus Communications Officer

eriel@clc.takingitglobal.org

http://projects.takingitglobal.org/indigenous

Youth Caucus Statement- Human Rights

Intervention to the Seventh Session of the UNPFII 2008

Youth Caucus Statement

Agenda Item 5: Human Rights

Good afternoon Madame Chair,

This intervention is submitted by the Indigenous Youth Caucus of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the Seventh Session, comprised of Indigenous youth from all over the world.

First, we acknowledge our ancestors and those leaders that have come before us. In addition, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of this region for allowing us to meet in their respective homeland. We give thanks to our relatives, the mountains, lakes, rivers, seas and all living beings that have inhabited this earth and provide us with the means to survive. We would also like to give thanks to all states that have accepted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and taken the first steps in a long walk of renewal and relationship building, and we encourage those that haven’t to do so.

The Indigenous Youth caucus would like to address the UNPFII and the wide range of human right violations that Indigenous peoples face worldwide and in particular, Indigenous youth. As a whole Indigenous peoples face an inability to speak our indigenous languages, as stated previously by the youth caucus, a long list of environmental and health violations, an inability to identify and be recognized as peoples, blatant genocidal policies, state sanctioned repression of self-determination, racism, educational and institutional oppression, and the list goes on and on. Indigenous youth are particularly vulnerable to these human rights violation. These violations contribute to internalized self-hatred, the result of which contributes to the high numbers of suicide, alcoholism, and drug abuse among our youth.

Indigenous youth are precious commodities and make up over 50% of the world's indigenous population. Despite our large population our voices, concerns, and distinct experiences are often rendered invisible and or under-represented. Leaders/governments try to suffocate our voices on our issues and problems that we carry with us in our everyday lives. We, the Indigenous youth are the frontlines of our struggles, in Balochistan, Tyendinaga, Kenya, Burma, Tibet, Columbia, New Zealand, Lybia, on and on and world wide. Indigenous youth activists are being labeled as insurgents and terrorists. We are not terrorists, we guided by our previous generations, elders and teachers carrying the sacred responsibility to maintain our culture, and to defend our precious mother earth. In addition, this problem is compounded by high infant mortality rates within indigenous communities. We are dying on the frontlines, we are dying in our communities, we the Indigenous youth are dying before our time.

We have the right to life and fundamental freedoms; we have the right to safety, security, culture, and dignity. However, our rights under the Declaration of Indigenous Peoples are not being made readily available to Indigenous youth. We continually find that our rights are compromised and violated in the name of national progress, development, and natural resources extraction. In order for indigenous nations to survive indigenous youth justice must be given priority and we must be seen as contributors to indigenous survival and the discourse of indigenous human rights. Now is the time for our elders and leaders to work with our young Indigenous peoples.

We respectively offer the following recommendations:

1) For Nation-States to fully implement Article 7 and 8 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of indigenous peoples.

2) For the UN to encourage and ensure that State governments impart the information within the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to Indigenous youth.

3) For Nation-States to recognize and fully incorporate Indigenous youth voice into the discourse of human rights violations.

4) For the UN to encourage Nation-States to educate their populations on the rights of Indigenous peoples.

In conclusion,

We are all interconnected and have responsibility to uphold our rights together. Indigenous youth issues aren’t just indigenous youth issues, they are community issues, community issues aren’t just community issues but our Nations issues, and we need to address them together as a whole. We encourage the forum to help us become the leaders of today and tomorrow and help our nations and culture survive.

Youth Caucus: Indigenous Languages

Youth Caucus Statement - April 24, 2008

Revitalization of Indigenous Languages for Future Generations

Good afternoon Madame Chair,

This intervention is submitted by the Indigenous Youth Caucus of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the Seventh Session, comprised of Indigenous young people from all over the world. With due respect, we would like to first acknowledge the traditional custodians of this region for allowing us to meet in their respective homeland. We would also like to give thanks to our relatives, the mountains, lakes, rivers, seas and all living beings that have inhabited this earth and provide us with the means to survive.

We, the indigenous youth caucus would like to address the UN PFII regarding the urgency of saving and revitalizing our languages. Language is identity, Language is history, Language is culture, Language is education and Language is a bridge between the past, present and future. Language is vital to the efficacy of our indigenous being; it gives us the knowledge of our ancestors.

Language is not used solely as means of communication, rather it encompasses intricate complexities of our identity. Language is essential in shaping our worldviews as indigenous young people, and we do not deserve, nor can we afford to walk this earth without the opportunity to embrace our own languages.

We recognize the continuing effects of assimilation, acculturation, colonization and its counterpart, genocide through the displacement of generations of indigenous children around the world, thus leaving our languages in many cases extinct or on the verge thereof.

Moreover, we recognize additional contemporary issues of globalization, modernity, industrialization, cultural imperialism, hegemony, various other aspects of capitalism and the list goes on and on of impositions that are preventing our languages to be revitalized and thus thrive in our respective communities.

Our languages are gifts from our ancestors and have evolved in accordance with our traditional philosophical understandings. Thus the efficacy of our spirituality is contingent upon the perpetuation of our indigenous languages.

The ongoing suppression and oppression of indigenous language by government-states, school systems, and religious institutions must be eradicated and replaced with collective efforts to engage in a resurgence of our treasured languages. This is evident in societies of individuals among us such as those from Kmher Khrom and Balochestan where people are forbidden to teach their languages, and right here in the United States where “English only” legislation denies our existence as Indigenous Peoples.

As you know, according to UNESCO, approximately 600 languages have disappeared in the last century and up 90 percent of the world’s languages are likely to disappear before the end of this century. In many countries, 90 percent of Indigenous languages will be extinct within the next 10-50 years.

We recognize that traditional knowledge is often required to be passed down through the Indigenous language of a respective society, thus the discourse we have engaged in here regarding climate change and traditional knowledge of the earth, can simply be dismissed if the suppression of our languages continues.

With respect to our elders, we are not the leaders of tomorrow. We are the leaders of today. We accept that we will one day assume the leadership roles of the PFII. Without command of our languages, we will simply be inaccurate representations of Indigenous persons leading our peoples. We will be non-indigenous minds trapped in Indigenous bodies.

Now is the time for our elders and leaders to work with our young Indigenous peoples to reinvigorate our languages, the gateway through which we can further explore our traditions and cultures.

We respectively offer the following recommendations:

1) For Nation-States to affirm the validity of Indigenous languages

2) For culturally sensitive educational programs to be implemented in indigenous communities excluding imposed Western pedagogical curriculums and standards

3) For Nation-States to fully implement Article 13 and 14 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of indigenous peoples.

4) For the UN to recognize the indigenous youth caucus as effective and intrinsic parts of the discourse and developments of indigenous language revitalization efforts.

Youth Statement on Climate Change

Jeg er nå i New York på Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Jobber en del i Youth Caucus og vi presenterte dette statementet idag:

______________________

Good morning Madame Chair,

I’d like to start by thanking you for this opportunity to give this intervention at this critical moment in history to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on this year’s theme regarding climate change.

We would like to acknowledge the indigenous peoples who have come from all corners of the earth to gather here today and would also like to give thanks for the mountains, lakes, rivers, seas and all living beings that have inhabited this earth and provide us with the means to survive for those are the things we are fighting for here today.

As the next generation to take responsibility and care for our mother earth, we bring you this statement and the following recommendations out of respect, honor and dignity, with our ancestor’s footprints and prayers as our guiding path. Our environment is out of balance, and its due to things that we have done together as the human race and it is a problem that we must solve together. And I believe us as indigenous people are people most affected by climate change and also are the ones most capable reverse the effects as well. We have prepared the following recommendations.

Recommendations:

1. We ask that the council use their public influence to impress upon the world the importance of acknowledging global climate change, and the amount of expediency that we need to address it with. Implementing clean, just, sustainable and renewable energy practices along with localized economies can address the problem that we all face.

2. We ask that you hold parties responsible for major sources of pollution and emissions of greenhouse gasses accountable, such as enforcing and upholding stricter global pollution regulations that will be headed by polluting parties. We are calling for a moratorium on new fossil fuel development in indigenous territories and support indigenous people’s rights to oppose carbon trading.

3. We Respectfully Request that you provide support to communities that directly suffer from the adverse effects of climate change, For if we act now not only can we reverse harm done to indigenous lands but stop the further degradation which would be left to the next generation of indigenous peoples if left untreated. We also recognize that any assistance giving now would be exponentially less then that needed if these problems continued.

4. Do to the fact that animal agriculture contributes such a large portion of greenhouse gas emissions, land consumption and deforestation we strongly urge the United Nations to research and recommend to relevant government agencies new sustainable and ecologically sound food production systems for the world.

5. In support of previous youth caucuses we call for full and effective participation and support of Indigenous youth in all discussions and decision-making processes concerning Indigenous rights. We request the Permanent Forum to establish a permanent youth component of the UNPFII (United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues). What we are asking for is support from the UN to help facilitate youth involvement in the annual forums.

We would also like to add, Madam Chairperson that we are in full support and welcome the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We call for the full implementation of this declaration in all countries of the world.

We understand that bureaucracy may prevent you from implementing any restrictive legislation but we respectively remind the council how important this issue is to not only indigenous peoples but to all of earth’s inhabitants. We have asked that you hold responsible parties accountable, enforce clean air, water, mandates, fund real effective solutions that treat the causes global climate change and not the symptoms of it but solutions designed to restore the earths integrity and prevent future degradation, and in return we make a promise to you to do all that is in our power to assist and We also commit to addressing and decreasing our amount of energy consumption that will ultimately lead to less energy needs and to lead the fight for the integrity of our earth.

Ungpikedrømmer

Det er et vannvittig prosjekt å gifte seg: Mye skal planlegges og jammen koster det skjorta, i allefall om du skal følge de profesjonelle bryllupsmakernes bryllupskalendre (ja vel?) og bryllupskalkulatorer (!) og hva det enn måtte være.. Jeg var innom dittbryllup.no her om dagen i noen minutter, men rakk heldigvis å rømme der fra av før Mona Grudt hadde stukket av med hele fjorårets skattegevinst.

Om man skal lese disse sidene riktig ser det ut som at man visstnok må ha skaffet forlovere minst et år før bryllupet, du må sette opp et budsjett på høyde med lønnsutgiftene til en gjennomsnittlig sametingsansatt, og ikke minst må du lære deg å danse med brudgommen . Deretter må du ha bryllupsplan (?) og du må ha bryllupsforsikring (forsikring hvafornoe?) og selvfølgelig må plasseringen i kirken være på plass flere måneder før vielsen . Og selvfølgelig må man legge en plan for å få et forbedret utseende? Synes jeg ser min vordende brudgom lage en tidsplan for hår- og skjeggtrimming...

Den vordende brud Guvsám har selvfølgelig prøvd et visst antall brudekjoler, for divafaktene måtte jo bare få sitt utløp. Og det hastet jo virkelig- det var jo i alle fall fire måneders leveringstid på disse om jeg skulle falle for å gifte meg i hvitt slør.

Men veien var enkel til slektsleverandøren Skaar-tekstils koftestoff og garn. Bryllupssidene på internett er byttet ut med mamma og søstre og jokkmokks-kolten og en enkel feiring i en landsens prestegård ut mot havgapet med Amerika som neste stopp.

- men jeg fant om ikke annet noen fine servietter -

- og hva skal staten så gjøre med kirkeeliten?

Det er bred politisk enighet om at kirken selv skal utnevne biskoper fra 2012. Men før det må kirken gå igjennom betydelige demokratiske prosesser.

Det er ingen tvil om at vi ikke hadde fått de mest folkekjære biskopene- som Stålsett og Køhn, om det ikke hadde vært kirkelig statsråd som hadde utnevnt dem. Vi vet alle hvilken betydning de har hatt for forståelsen og utviklingen av kirken.

Nå skal de utnevnes innen for Den norske kirkes(Dnk) egne strukturer. Før det skal kirken gjennom en demokratiseringsreform. Spørsmålet blir om denne prosessen klarer å få bukt med kirkeeliten som råder i Dnk idag? Det er et problem at bare noen prosent stemmer ved menighetsrådsvalg, og at det er den samme eliten som går igjen både i menighetsråd og bispedømmeråd, i allefall enkelte steder i landet.

Fakkel på flukt

Hvor ble det av OL- fakkelen? Den måtte flykte til hemmelig sted. Tidligere samlet den til folkefest, nå samler den opprørere og aktivister. Menneskerettighetsbrudd tolererer vi nemlig ikke. IOC og Kina burde ærlig talt tatt hintet for lenge siden. OL- fakkelens reise er blitt en farse; late-som-om-alt-egentlig-er-strålende-bra, joda-dialog-det-fungerer-det, fakkeltog-hurra!

Men hva med norske myndigheter? Kinas ambassadør tror at Norge står bak deres Tibet- politikk. Noen bør vel være litt tydeligere?

gjenvalg?

æ har bestæmt mæ... .. egentlig fer læng sia, men først no e alt lagt til rette for det. Æ stille mæ te disposisjon for NSR i Sør- Norge valgkrets ved sametingsvalget 2009. Æ trives i politikerrollen, og har løst å jobb i og for det samiske samfunnet ræst`n av livet!

Det va ei stoinn usekkert om æ vart buanes innafor valgkretsen, men no e det eindelig avklart. Sånn ca roinnt St.hans bli æ nord- møring, ja te å me Buaværing. Vi (Sindre + æ) fløtte te Bud i Romsdal, eit lite sted ut i havgapet. Æ glede mæ. Glede mæ te nye speinnanes følk, og hav og bølga. Bud har jo sælvfølgelig hjemmeside.

.. å fløtt fra Oslo, og spesielt Oslo Sámiid Searvi bli litt vanskelig. Searvien har verri viktig, og e fortsatt viktig fer mæ, og har gitt mæ mang muligheta. Æ huske no sist i januar, da vi sto opp grytidlig ein lørdagsmårrån - læmpa lavvoa, gamme og ainna stæsj ut av samisk hus, inn i ein taxi, kjørt te Spikersuppa, læmpa stæsje ut og der satt opp ein liten same- siida.... så va vi der heile dagen, og informert om sama og hadd lassokasting, duodje og vafla.. Når kvelden nærma sæ, pakka vi ned siidaen vårres, inn i taxi og læmpa aillt inn i samisk hus.... Ein gjeng slitne, men glade, engasjerte og positive følk etter eit vellykka prosjekt. Og æ tænkt: ska æ fløtt i fra det her??
ja, æ gjør visst det, med blainna følelsa. Æ fer fra ein dyktig, vital, engasjert Searvi som i år e 60 år! Hurra for OSS! lenge leve! og det tru æ dein gjør! me så mang dyktige følk!