Sign on to our collective statement.

Agenda item.1 Opening of the meeting (07.12.202)

Statement on behalf of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) delivered by John Cheechoo, Assembly of First Nation (AFN), Kenneth Deer Indigenous World Association

From December 7-19, 2022, in Montreal, Canada, the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) is bringing together the countries who are parties to the Convention and various observer stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples.

On November 29, 2022, the Caribbean Court of Justice heard arguments in the case Maya Leaders Alliance v The Attorney General of Belize regarding the compliance of the State of Belize with the court’s 2015 decision in favor of Maya land rights. 

El domingo 19 de julio de 2020 cinco hombres, incluyendo cuatro Garífunas, fueron sacados a punta de pistola de sus casas en la comunidad de Triunfo de la Cruz, Honduras, por hombres no identificados vestidos con uniformes de la Dirección Policial de Investigación de Honduras.

En septiembre de 2022, Cultural Survival junto con nuestro socio la Asociación Sobrevivencia Cultural entregamos un informe a la 72 sesión del Comité de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales.

The following is an appeal sent by various anti-war movements of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia and Indigenous activists to the United Nations in October 2022. The signees address the Russian Federation’s current mobilization order and its impact on Indigenous communities in the Sakha Republic. They call on the UN for assistance with Indigenous draftees needing asylum and seek solidarity and support from the international community. They make known their fervent denouncement of the violence and destabilization Russia has wrecked upon Ukraine in its unjust war on the sovereign nation.

From my apartment door, I see a blue sky hovering over the tin roof of the neighboring house. I see the blended tops of coconut trees standing so close, their palms so intertwined, that it’s hard to tell where one ends and the next begins. I see lined telephone poles and a busy road down to my right, the bus stop and grocery store across the street, and wild chickens running around below. They almost always seem to be in a hurry, but I never know where they’re going.

Según informes de ONU Mujeres, una de cada tres mujeres ha sufrido algún tipo de violencia sexual o física. La violencia contra las mujeres y las niñas ocurre en diferentes contextos, incluyendo en tiempos de paz y conflicto, desastres naturales, crisis humanitarias y pandemias. Puede ocurrir dentro de la familia o comunidad, o fuera en la sociedad en general. 

Cada 25 de noviembre se conmemora el Día Internacional para Eliminar la Violencia contra la Mujer. Todo tipo de violencia (física, psicológica, sexual, económica, entre otras) contra mujeres y niñas es una violación a los derechos humanos.  Cuando se trata de mujeres indígenas, las vulneraciones tienen una doble intersecionalidad: étnica y de género.

Long before the arrival of the settlers, the land which we call Turtle Island was bountiful of rich foods, clean water, and a vast amount of biodiversity. Cornfields wrapped around the coastline for miles, schools of fish swam so thick, and trees were so healthy they produced many nuts and fruits. Our ancestors celebrated thanksgiving about 13 times a year. In the Northeast, the first thanksgiving is the Strawberry Thanksgiving as it is the first berry of the season.