United Nations International Day of Indigenous Peoples
Monday 9 August marked the United Nations International Day of Indigenous Peoples.
“The world’s population of indigenous people now numbers some 350 million individuals representing over 5,000 languages and cultures in more than 70 countries on every continent. Many live on the fringes of society, in sometimes precarious and impoverished conditions. Their material, environmental and spiritual situations, together with their world-views and intimate relationship with the land and natural resources, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of globalization. The resulting instability, aggravated by dispossession from their land and natural resources, has disrupted the handing down of their cultural heritage from one generation to the next.”
UNESCO, “International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People”
Forced Migration Online’s resource page on the subject highlights a number of key online information sources relating to indigenous peoples.
It also features a selection of full-text documents, web-based resources, and descriptions of relevant organizations available through FMO that focus on related issues.