On May 20, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples (UNPFII) commenced its 12th annual session. The UNPFII is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. The UNPFII was established by the UN in response to demands from Indigenous Peoples for a high level permanent body at the United Nations.
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is the principle that a community has the right to give its consent to proposed projects that may affect their lands, resources, livelihoods, and communities.
A Coalition of 50+ Indigenous Groups Host #Proud2BIndigenous Week during UNPFII
New York, NY
The World Bank has finally responded to pressure from NGOs, rights activists and grassroots groups calling on an end to financing for land grabbing projects that allow the leasing of huge tracts traditionally occupied by the world's poorest and most disenfranchised to make way for large-scale corporate agriculture projects. In their statement, released at the close of this week's World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, Bank President Dr.
Today, February 21, is International Mother Language Day, first proclaimed in 1952 as "Language Movement Day" by Dhaka University students in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) who were protesting suppression of their Bengali language. Police and military forces opened fire, killing many young people in attendance.
Dhaka University students today mark the 60th anniversary of their fellow students' sacrifice of their lives for their mother tongue, and millions of citizens will leave flowers at the Language Martyr's Monument (Shahid Minar).
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
