Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will be the Focus 2007 UN Student Conference on Human Rights

The 10th Annual United Nations Student Conference on Human Rights (UNSCHR) will take place 5-7 December 2007. The theme this year is “Recognising the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. This conference supports the goals of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, which aims to strengthen cooperation for finding solutions to problems faced by indigenous peoples. During the 2007 UN Students Human Rights Conference, the students will be working to raise awareness about indigenous people and their important contributions to society globally, highlighting the significance of this action towards achieving a just and non-discriminatory international human rights policy, and encouraging Member States to implement the Declaration at the national level. The 2007 UNSCHR conference will unite approximately 60 youth from around the world at the UN Headquarters in New York for discussion, collaboration, and action related to the rights of indigenous peoples. Each co-sponsor will bring up to 12 student representatives to New York to participate. Many others will join through videoconferencing and web-casting. Prior to the conference, participants will conduct their own research on universal human rights and those specific to indigenous peoples, and share their ideas across cultures through a web-based forum on the UN Cyberschoolbus website. In addition, participants were able to interact, for the first time, with indigenous representatives and with each other through the use of live video chats during the months leading up to the conference. These video chats will be posted on the UN Cyberschoolbus website throughout the conference. During the conference, student representatives in New York will work with students from other countries participating by videoconferencing and web-casting to develop a consensus on these issues and draft a Plan of Action. The President of the UN General Assembly will be asked to be present at the end of the final day of the conference to accept the Plan of Action from the chairperson of the conference and, as in past years, request its dissemination to UN Member States. For more information on the background of the annual Student Conference on Human Rights, please visit http://www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/student/2007/about.asp To learn more about the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples please follow the

Indigenous Permanent Forum 7th Session Pre-Registration Begins

Pre-registration for the Seventh Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is now open. The Seventh Session will take place at United Nations Heqdquarteds, in New York, from 21 April to 2 May 2008. The special theme will be "Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges." Pre-registration is open to indigenous peoples' organizations, academic institutions and NGOs with ECOSOC consultative status. Please visit the Seventh Session webpage, where you will find all online registration forms: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/session_seventh.html For those who are not elligible for participation in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, there will be public access to webcasts on the United Nations website during the Forum.

Secretary--General Ban Makes an Historic Visit to Antarctica

Ban Ki-moon became the first United Nations Secretary-General to make an official visit to Antarctica as he travelled to the frozen continent to see first-hand the effects of climate change on its melting glaciers. Mr. Ban, who has made a climate change a priority issue during his term as Secretary-General, received a briefing from scientists at a Chilean Air Force base in Antarctica before visiting the Collins Glaciers and then the Sejong Research Centre. Mr. Ban addressed the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, the Chilean capital, where he told the audience that the UN’s work is “intimately linked” with the need to promote social cohesion worldwide. “Our very mission for peace, development and human rights depends on fostering inclusive societies that are stable, safe, just and tolerant – societies that respect diversity, equality of opportunity and participation of all,” Mr. Ban said. He stressed the importance of building and strengthening social cohesion to tackling several key challenges and issues faced by the UN, from climate change to migration to upholding indigenous rights and those of peoples with disabilities.--UN News Centre To view photos from the Secretary--General's visit, go to http://www.un.org/av/photo/index2.html

UN-Backed Environmental Database Now Available To Over 100 Developing Countries

More than 100 developing nations now have access to a United Nations-backed online environmental database which allows users to view material worth $1.5 million from prominent environmental science journals. The "Online Access to Research in the Environment" project - involving the UN Environment Programme, Yale University, the International Association of Scientific Technical and Medical Publishers and over 300 publishers, key scientific societies and associations - was launched last year and offered free or low-cost service to 70 of the world's poorest nations with per capital incomes below $1,000. In its second phase, the initiative has added 37 more countries, areas and territories - including Algeria, the Maldives, Suriname and Vanuatu - with per capita incomes ranging between $1,000 and $3,000. "Providing practitioners, researchers and scientists with online access to scientific research on the environment has been a long-held dream and desire by institutions around the world," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. The project is making great strides towards bridging the North-South scientific gap and digital divide, as well as bolstering environmental institutions in many developing nations, he added. After a three-month free trial period, participating countries' institutions will be asked for yearly contributions of $1,000, which is less than 0.1 per cent of the annual retail subscription value of the available resources. These fees will be reinvesting in training programmes in these countries. Microsoft and Ex Libris Software are assisting in the project, allowing for full-text articles to be opened directly, allowing users to save time. For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/

Diabetes Puts Tribal People at Risk of Extinction

SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE-- As 14 November marks the first UN World Diabetes Day, a new report from Survival has highlighted the catastrophic impact of diabetes on tribal people who have been removed from their land. The problem is so serious that Professor Paul Zimmet of the International Diabetes Institute has said, 'Without urgent action there certainly is a real risk of a major wipe-out [due to diabetes] of indigenous communities, if not total extinction, within this century.' Survival's new report on indigenous people's health, 'Progress can kill', details the horrific rise in diabetes amongst tribal people who have been forced off their land and into a sedentary lifestyle. The Pima Indians of Arizona are a striking example: more than half of the Pima over the age of 35 have the disease. In Australia, Aborigines are 22 times more likely to die from diabetes than other Australians. When tribal peoples are separated from their land, the resulting change of diet from high-protein to high-fat food often leads to diabetes. The disease can lead to blindness, kidney failure, strokes, heart disease and amputations. Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'Diabetes is a stark example of how forcing Western ideas of 'development' on tribal people leads to the breakdown of their health. Diabetes amongst tribal people living on their own land is extremely rare, but for those forced off their land in the name of 'progress', it is one of the biggest threats to their survival.' Survival's report, 'Progress can kill', is available at http://www.survival-international.org/campaigns/progresscankill For further reading on diabetes and it's direct effect on indigenous peoples, please visit http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/540921

UN Declaration Assists Indigenous Peoples

Belize (UCTP Taino News) - The Supreme Court of Belize, on October 18, cites the recently adopted United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples to justify its decision upholding the rights of Mayan People to their traditional lands. The Supreme Court decision involved the Maya villages of Conejo and Santa Cruz and noted that their customary land tenure practices give rise to property rights that are protected under the Constitution of Belize. The Court found that that the failure of the government of Belize to recognize and protect those rights constitute a violation of the constitutional protections of property, equality, life and security of the person. The judgment, which took approximately two and a half hours to read, affirmed that Belize is obligated not only by the Constitution but also by international treaty and customary law - including the recent United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - to respect and protect Maya customary land rights. The decision is being hailed as a landmark in Belize as well as throughout the Caribbean region and beyond as it is the first judgment applied specifically to the United Nations' declaration, which was adopted Sept. 13 by the U.N. General Assembly. The victory is expected to result in more protections and land rights for Indigenous People in Belize and potentially affects more than 40 Maya villages. Community leaders are calling it Mayan Independence Day. Source: The Voice of the Taino People Online http://www.uctp.blogspot.com/

Congo Pygmies Use Technology to Preserve Their Lands

Dakar-- In an unusual allience with Africa's largest logging company, Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB) owned by Denmark's DLH group, and other international partners, northern Congo's Mbendjele Yaka People are tapping into technology as a means of preserving forest areas crucial to their survival. Armed with hand-held Global Positioning Systems (GPS) this pygmie group ventures through their sacred lands and digitally enters into the GPS device the whereabouts of forest areas and trees that they want preseved."It's essentially a process by which the traditional rights of the pygmies can be respected and protected," said Scott Poynton, executive director of the Tropical Forest Trust, which works to promote responsible forest management in the world."The sets have icons on them, so they don't have to be able to read and write. They basically go out and say OK, click, here is a sacred site, and a GPS point is taken and links up to the satellite... And suddenly, you've got a map... It's a wonderful partnership between very poor, disenfranchised traditional people and a large company that's saying we want to do things the right way," Poynton said. To read more about this unique relationship, please visit http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101407G.shtml