By Lucas Kasosi (Maasai, CS Fellow)
Each year on February 2, the world observes World Wetlands Day, marking the 1971 adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in Ramsar, Iran. What began as a modest international agreement has grown into a global framework for recognizing the ecological, social, and economic importance of wetlands, ecosystems once dismissed as wastelands, but now understood as essential to life on Earth.
In October 2025, four Indigenous communities in Guatemala—Maya Kaqchikel de Sumpango, Maya Achí Chicaj, Mam de Cajolá, and Maya Mam de Todos Santos Cuchumatán—submitted an alternative report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), with support from the Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic at Suffolk University Law School and Cultural Survival.
By Prabindra Shakya (Newa) and Johnson Jament (Mukkuvar)
The Metals Company (TMC), a Canadian firm at the forefront of deep-sea mining, has rapidly expanded its operations across the Pacific, targeting areas vital to Indigenous and other coastal communities in Asia and the Pacific. Although the TMC is not yet commercially mining the seabed, they are pushing to begin mining aggressively – applying for U.S. permits in 2025 and conducting pilot collections (such as 2,000 tons for Nauru).
By Akash Poyam (Gond/Koitur, CS Fellow)
By Dev Kumar Sunuwar (Koĩts-Sunuwar, CS Staff)
Nepal’s human rights record was reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the fourth time on January 21, 2026. During the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, members of the international community assessed Nepal’s progress and the persistent challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples.
By Edson Krenak (Krenak, CS Staff)
After four years of frequent visits to Sigma Lithium's site in the Jequitinhonha Valley in Brazil, the situation at the tailings facility has become very concerning, prompting the Minas Gerais public prosecutor to file a public civil lawsuit against Sigma Lithium.
By Dev Kumar Sunuwar (Koĩts-Sunuwar, CS Staff)
By Gerard Tiwow (Minahasa)
“Nowhere in Indonesia has the old culture so fast and so completely disappeared as in the Minahasa” – Hetty Palm, Ancient Art of Minahasa (1958)
By Brandi Morin (Cree/Iroquois)
Nestled along the banks of the Bobonaza River in Ecuador’s Pastaza province is the “hidden,” thriving Kichwa community of Pakayaku. Located deep in the Amazon, reaching Pakayaku requires driving two hours from the city of Puyo to the river port, and then embarking on a nearly two-hour boat ride.
By Zuhira Musa (Fulani, CS Intern)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 December 2025
According to Indigenous organizations in Russia, Indigenous leaders and UN-engaged human rights defenders are being arrested, searched, and interrogated on fabricated charges of "terrorism" and "extremism" for their peaceful human rights work and cooperation with UN mechanisms.
A practical guide for Indigenous Peoples on using the OECD Guidelines to protect their rights.
Indigenous Peoples worldwide face increasing threats from large-scale resource extraction, agribusiness, and infrastructure projects carried out on their lands. These activities often result in loss of livelihoods, community disruption, and the erosion of cultural heritage.
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.
