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AGENDA 21, CHAPTER 26


RECOGNISING AND STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
AND THEIR COMMUNITIES










NOTE:     This is a final, advanced version of a chapter of Agenda 21, as adopted by
          the Plenary in Rio de Janeiro, on June 14, 1992.  This document will be
          further edited, translated into the official languages, and published by the
          United Nations for the General Assembly this autumn.





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                       PROGRAMME AREA

Basis for action

26.1.  Indigenous people and their communities have an 
historical relationship with their lands and are generally 
descendants of the original inhabitants of such lands.  In the 
context of this chapter the term "lands" is understood to 
include the environment of the areas which the people concerned 
traditionally occupy.  Indigenous people and their communities 
represent a significant percentage of the global population.  
They have developed over many generations a holistic 
traditional scientific knowledge of their lands, natural 
resources and environment.  Indigenous people and their 
communities shall enjoy the full measure of human rights and 
fundamental freedoms without hindrance or discrimination.  
Their ability to participate fully in sustainable development 
practices on their lands has tended to be limited as a result 
of factors of an economic, social and historical nature.  In 
view of the interrelationship between the natural environment 
and its sustainable development and the cultural, social, 
economic and physical well-being of indigenous people, national 
and international efforts to implement environmentally sound 
and sustainable development should recognize, accommodate, 
promote and strengthen the role of indigenous people and their 
communities.

26.2.  Some of the goals inherent in the objectives and 
activities of this programme area are already contained in such 
international legal instruments as the ILO Indigenous and 
Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169) and are being incorporated 
into the draft universal declaration on indigenous rights, 
being prepared by the United Nations working group on 
indigenous populations.  The International Year for the World's 
Indigenous People (1993), proclaimed by the General Assembly in 
its resolution 45/164 of 18 December 1990, presents a timely 
opportunity to mobilize further international technical and 
financial cooperation. 

Objectives 

26.3.  In full partnership with indigenous people and their 
communities, Governments and, where appropriate, 
intergovernmental organizations should aim at fulfilling the 
following objectives: 

     (a)  Establishment of a process to empower indigenous 
people and their communities through measures that include: 

     (i)  Adoption or strengthening of appropriate policies 
          and/or legal instruments at the national level; 
 
     (ii) Recognition that the lands of indigenous people and 
          their communities should be protected from activities 
          that are environmentally unsound or that the 
          indigenous people concerned consider to be socially 
          and culturally inappropriate; 

     (iii)Recognition of their values, traditional knowledge 
          and resource management practices with a view to 
          promoting environmentally sound and sustainable 
          development; 

     (iv) Recognition that traditional and direct dependence on 
          renewable resources and ecosystems, including 
          sustainable harvesting, continues to be essential to 
          the cultural, economic and physical well-being of 
          indigenous people and their communities;

     (v)  Development and strengthening of national 
          dispute-resolution arrangements in relation to 
          settlement of land and resource-management concerns;

     (vi) Support for alternative environmentally sound means 
          of production to ensure a range of choices on how to 
          improve their quality of life so that they 
          effectively participate in sustainable development;

     (vii)Enhancement of capacity-building for indigenous 
          communities, based on the adaptation and exchange of 
          traditional experience, knowledge and 
          resource-management practices, to ensure their 
          sustainable development;

     (b)  Establishment, where appropriate, of arrangements to 
          strengthen the active participation of indigenous 
          people and their communities in the national 
          formulation of policies, laws and programmes relating 
          to resource management and other development 
          processes that may affect them, and their initiation 
          of proposals for such policies and programmes;

     (c)  Involvement of indigenous people and their 
          communities at the national and local levels in 
          resource management and conservation strategies and 
          other relevant programmes established to support and 
          review sustainable development strategies, such as those 
          suggested in other programme areas of Agenda 21.

Activities

26.4.  Some indigenous people and their communities may 
require, in accordance with national legislation, greater 
control over their lands, self-management of their resources, 
participation in development decisions affecting them, 
including, where appropriate, participation in the 
establishment or management of protected areas.  The following 
are some of the specific measures which Governments could take:

     (a)  Consider the ratification and application of existing 
international conventions relevant to indigenous people and 
their communities (where not yet done) and provide support for 
the adoption by the General Assembly of a declaration on 
indigenous rights;

     (b)  Adopt or strengthen appropriate policies and/or legal 
instruments that will protect indigenous intellectual and 
cultural property and the right to preserve customary and 
administrative systems and practices.

26.5.  United Nations organizations and other international 
development and finance organizations and Governments should, 
drawing on the active participation of indigenous people and 
their communities, as appropriate, take the following measures, 
inter alia, to incorporate their values, views and knowledge, 
including the unique contribution of indigenous women, in 
resource management and other policies and programmes that may 
affect them:

     (a)  Appoint a special focal point within each 
international organization, and organize annual 
interorganizational coordination meetings in consultation with 
Governments and indigenous organizations, as appropriate, and 
develop a procedure within and between operational agencies for 
assisting Governments in ensuring the coherent and coordinated 
incorporation of the views of indigenous people in the design 
and implementation of policies and programmes.  Under this 
procedure, indigenous people and their communities should be 
informed and consulted and allowed to participate in national 
decision-making, in particular regarding regional and 
international cooperative efforts.  In addition, these policies 
and programmes should take fully into account strategies based 
on local indigenous initiatives;

     (b)  Provide technical and financial assistance for 
capacity-building programmes to support the sustainable 
self-development of indigenous people and their communities;

     (c)  Strengthen research and education programmes aimed at:

     (i)  Achieving a better understanding of indigenous 
          people's knowledge and management experience related 
          to the environment, and applying this to contemporary 
          development challenges; 

     (ii) Increasing the efficiency of indigenous people's 
          resource management systems, for example, by 
          promoting the adaptation and dissemination of 
          suitable technological innovations;

     (d)  Contribute to the endeavours of indigenous people and 
their communities in resource management and conservation 
strategies (such as those that may be developed under 
appropriate projects funded through the Global Environmental 
Facility and Tropical Forestry Action Plan) and other programme 
areas of Agenda 21, including programmes to collect, analyse 
and use data and other information in support of sustainable 
development projects.

26.6.  Governments, in full partnership with indigenous people 
and their communities should, where appropriate:

     (a)  Develop or strengthen national arrangements to 
consult with indigenous people and their communities with a 
view to reflecting their needs and incorporating their values 
and traditional and other knowledge and practices in national 
policies and programmes in the field of natural resource 
management and conservation and other development programmes 
affecting them;

     (b)  Cooperate at the regional level, where appropriate, 
to address common indigenous issues with a view to recognizing 
and strengthening their participation in sustainable 
development.

Means of implementation

(a) Financing and cost evaluation 

26.7.  The UNCED Secretariat has estimated the average total 
annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this 
chapter to be about $3 million from the international community 
on grant or concessional terms.  These are indicative and order 
of magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by 
governments.  Actual costs and financial terms, including any 
that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the 
specific strategies and programmes governments decide upon for 
implementation.
 
(b) Legal and administrative frameworks 

26.8.  Governments should incorporate, in collaboration with 
the indigenous people affected, the rights and responsibilities 
of indigenous people and their communities in the legislation 
of each country, suitable to the country's specific situation.  
Developing countries may require technical assistance to 
implement these activities.

(c) Human resource development 

26.9.  International development agencies and Governments 
should commit financial and other resources to education and 
training for indigenous people and their communities to develop 
their capacities to achieve their sustainable self-development, 
and to contribute to and participate in sustainable and 
equitable development at the national level.  Particular 
attention should be given to strengthening the role of 
indigenous women.
.
