Second Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples.
The Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (2005-2015) was proclaimed by General Assembly. The goal of the Decade is the further strengthening of international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as culture, education, health, human rights, the environment and social and economic development, by means of action oriented programs and specific projects, increased technical assistance and relevant standard setting activities;
The five objectives of the Decade are:
- Promoting non-discrimination and inclusion of indigenous peoples in the design, implementation and evaluation of international, regional and national processes regarding laws, policies, resources, programmes and projects;
- Promoting full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in decisions which directly or indirectly affect their life styles, traditional lands and territories, their cultural integrity as indigenous peoples with collective rights or any other aspect of their lives, considering the principle of free, prior and informed consent.
- Re-defining development policies that depart from a vision of equity and that are culturally appropriate, including respect for cultural and linguistic diversity of indigenous peoples.
- Adopting targeted policies, programs, projects and budgets for the development of indigenous peoples, including concrete benchmarks, and particular emphasis on indigenous women, children and youth;
- Developing strong monitoring mechanisms and enhancing accountability at the international, regional and particularly the national level, regarding the implementation of legal, policy and operational frameworks for the protection of indigenous peoples and the improvement of their lives.
Although I believe the five objectives are important in order to improve the lives of indigenous people, I think numbers 2 and 5 are the most important in my opinion. There is a tradition of neo-liberal governments and foreign companies taking land that indigenous people have a right to. If the people are involved in the decision making process, these violations would not occur. Additionally, the enforcement of policies on several levels is also vital to improving the lives of the indigenous people and reducing the violations to which they are subject. We saw violations to the Native Americans in the United States as well as in many countries around the world including Mexico, Argentina, and Panama (a country created by the United States). I look towards the country of Bolivia who elected its first indigenous President, Evo Morales. In fact, he expelled USAID from the country recently.
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