Indigenous peoples are distinct social and cultural groups who share collective ancestral connections to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or have been displaced from. The lands and natural resources on which they depend are inextricably linked to their identity, culture, livelihoods, and physical and spiritual well-being. They often subscribe to their usual leaders and organizations for representation distinct or separate from that of mainstream society or culture. Many indigenous peoples still maintain a language distinct from the official language(s) of the country or region in which they reside; however, many have also lost their languages or are on the verge of extinction due to expulsion from their lands and/or resettlement to other territories. They talk more than 4,000 of the world’s 7,000 languages although some estimates indicate that more … than Half of the world’s languages are at risk of disappearing by 2100.
There is a estimated at 476 million indigenous peoples worldwide. Although they constitute just 6 percent of the world’s population, they represent about 19 percent of the extremely poor. Indigenous populations’ life expectancy is up to 20 years lower than that of non-indigenous people. global. Indigenous peoples often lack formal recognition of their lands, territories and natural resources, are often the last to receive public investments in basic services and infrastructure and face multiple obstacles to fully participating in the formal economy, benefiting access to justice and participate in political processes and decision-making. This legacy of inequality and exclusion has made indigenous peoples more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and natural hazardsincluding disease outbreaks such as COVID-19.
While indigenous peoples own, occupy or use a quarter of the world’s surface area. Indigenous peoples retain 80 percent of global biodiversity remaining and recent studies reveal that forest lands under collective intellectual property and local community management hold at least a quarter of all above-ground carbon in tropical and subtropical forests They hold vital ancestral knowledge and expertise on how to adapt, mitigate and reduce climate and disaster risks.
A large part of the land occupied by indigenous peoples is under customary ownership, Yet many governments recognize only a fraction of these lands as formally or legally belonging to indigenous peoples.. Even when indigenous territories and lands are recognized, border protection or the use and exploitation of natural resources are often inadequate. Land insecurity is a factor of conflict, environmental degradation and low economic and social development. This threatens cultural survival and vital knowledge systems – loss in these areas increases the risks of fragility, biodiversity loss and degradation of One Health (or ecological and animal health) systems, which threaten the ecosystem services we need. we all depend.
Improving land security, strengthening governance, promoting public investments in the provision of quality and culturally appropriate services, and supporting indigenous systems for their resilience and livelihoods are essential to reduce the multidimensional aspects of poverty while contributing has Sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The World Bank works with indigenous peoples and governments to ensure that broader development programs reflect the voices and aspirations of indigenous peoples.
Over the past 30 years, the rights of indigenous peoples have been increasingly recognized through the adoption of international instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on Human Rightsindigenous peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007, the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2016, the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Environmental Justice in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement) in 2021 and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention of 1991. At the same time, global institutional mechanisms have been created to promote the rights of indigenous peoples, such as the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples (UNSR).
Last updated: April 6, 2023
