Good Morning Ladies, I look forward to seeing you all wearing your culture, with extra pride today, as we celebrate Our special day. The following is a bit on this years theme, also, there is to be a live stream at midday today, its being held by Congress Mob. Follow the link at the bottom. Indigenous peoples building alliances: Honouring treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements is this years theme for International Indigenous Peoples Day, and while its obvious that UNESCO and other International Bodies are working hard at it, it would appear, in light of the recent budget cuts, that our government has taken a backwards step. Statistically, Indigenous peoples live in all regions of the world and own, occupy or use some 22% of global land area. Numbering at least 370-500 million, indigenous peoples represent the greater part of the world’s cultural diversity, and speak the major share of the world’s almost 7000 languages. Many indigenous peoples continue to be confronted with marginalization, extreme poverty and other human rights violations. Now, after centuries of self appointed superiority, genocide, forced assimilation and other equally deplorable policies, we find ourselves in a rather precarious position. They hold the key to our planets survival. In the face of their continuous and alarming erosion and unsustainable use, biodiversity and ecosystem services are gaining increasing attention in the international arena. The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), recently created to assist governments and stakeholders to better understand the status, trends and challenges facing ecological systems, is now underway. IBPES adopted ‘indigenous knowledge recognition’ as a basic operating principle in light of its important contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems. Biodiversity is crucial to human life and to the reduction of poverty. The goods and services provided by ecosystems are often taken for granted, even though they underpin future economic and social development and are under threat from biodiversity erosion. They include the production of our food and water, the oxygenation and purification of our air, and the pollination of our crops. Across the globe, people are in constant interaction with the biological components of their environment, and through this interaction they elaborate sophisticated sets of knowledge and practice, which include both scientific knowledge, and indigenous & local knowledge (ILK). ILK refers to the understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings. At a time where these Intergovernmental Authorities are paying acknowledgement to the importance of the traditional knowledge and practices, we need to be serious about supporting the community and assisting in the creation of a national database for recording these practices, and put a stop to this governments present policy of ATSI people must assimilate or be left out on their own. Australia’s support for the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People affirms some important and basic principles. One of the most important principles is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are actively involved in the decision-making that affects them. To be effective, policies and programs that impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be developed as an agreement, a shared pact, between government and those directly affected The National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples will mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples by webcasting a panel discussion about alliances, treaties and agreements. National Congress co-chair, Les Malezer, will moderate the event, which starts at noon TODAY nationalcongress.au - Panellists are Tom Calma, Nicole Watson, Brian Wyatt and Mary Graham.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 19:36:16 +0000
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