INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
MEDIA SESSIONS 11/07/2018 10:00- 17:00, United Nations, NY During this year's High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), several indigenous representatives will engage in short media sessions to reflect on different issues related to sustainable development and indigenous communities. The sessions will be held for 25 minutes in the Department of Public Information Room and coordinated by the Indigenous Peoples Major Group (IPMG) and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). On the next pages, you can also find contacts with representatives that will be available during the HLPF. Here is a breakdown of the sessions: 10:00-10:25: Introduction to Indigenous voices and strengthening community resilience and sustainable development (Africa, Asia and Australia) 10:30-10:55: Strengthening community resilience and sustainable development (Russia, Arctic and USA) 11:00-11:25: (Spanish) Pueblos Indígenas en los Informes Nacionales de Caracter Voluntario (VNR): Plan de Acción de Iberoamerica para la Implementación de los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas. 11:00-11:25: (Spanish) Pueblos Indígenas en los Informes Nacionales de Caracter Voluntario (VNR): Plan de Acción de Iberoamerica para la Implementación de los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas. 11:30-11:55: Challenges and solutions to sustainable water management (North America, Asia, Africa) 12:00-12:25: Women’s roles, contributions and challenges for sustainable development (Asia & UN Women) 13:30-13:55: Tools for SDG monitoring relating to Indigenous Peoples rights and human rights (Asia, DIHR, Colombia) 14:00-14:25: Building partnerships with indigenous peoples for sustainable development (UNDP & IFAD) 14:30-14:55: Challenges, roles and contributions of indigenous peoples on forest and biodiversity conservation (Asia, Latin America and Africa) 15:00-15:25: Realities on the ground from VNR countries: Vietnam, Paraguay, Australia and Canada 15:00-15:25: Tools for SDG monitoring relating to Indigenous Peoples rights and human rights (Asia, DIHR, Colombia) 15:30-15:55: Conversation with the PGA on indigenous peoples’ participation and inclusion in the SDGs 16:00-16:55: Working together to support land rights in the SDGs (ILC & IFAD) 16:30-17:00: Youth: learning and leading the way to the future for sustainable development ( Latin America, Asia and Pacific)
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York. Tarcila Rivera Zea, Peru (Spanish) (only available in New York from 10-12 July) Ms. Rivera Zea is Quechua, born in Ayacucho. She is a journalist and has been advocating for indigenous peoples' rights, especially those related to women, children and indigenous youth, in national and international areas for 30 years. Working at CHIRAPAQ, the institution that she founded, she promotes cultural reaffirmation, empowerment of indigenous women, the struggle against racism and discrimination, intercultural education and food sovereignty. She is an expert member at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since 2017. Joan Carling, Philippines (English). Ms. Carling is an indigenous activist from Cordillera region of the Philippines. She has been working on indigenous issues for more than 20 years from grassroots to international levels. She served as the Secretary-General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, a regional coalition of 50 indigenous organizations across Asia, from 2008 to 2016. She was an indigenous expert of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2014 to 2016. She is currently the co-convenor of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development (IPMG). Her fields of expertise include human rights, sustainable development, environment and climate change as well as on the principles and application of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). Paul Kanyinke Sena, Kenya (English, Swahili)Dr. Sena is the Director of Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC), a network of 135 indigenous peoples’ organizations in 22 countries in Africa. He is a former member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (20112013) and the African Commission Working Group on Indigenous Populations. He holds a Doctorate in Law in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy from the University of Arizona. He has undertaken a semester course work on renewable energy for the Doctorate degree and has been advocating for community-led energy projects in Africa. He has written various papers and reports on energy projects and indigenous peoples’ rights.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York. Myrna CUNNINGHAM KAIN, Nicaragua (English, Spanish). Dr. Cunningham Kain is an indigenous Miskita woman from Waspam community in Nicaragua. She has extensive experience in issues affecting indigenous peoples and was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as one of ten experts to guide the Technical Facilitation Mechanism related to how science and technology can facilitate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. She is a former member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2011-2013). She also serves currently as the President of FILAC (Fondo para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indigenas de America Latina y el Caribe). Pavel Sulyandziga, Russian Federation (Russian) Mr. Sulyandziga is a member of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises since 2011. He is Chairperson of the Board of the International Development Fund of Indigenous Peoples in Russia and is currently a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College (USA). He was a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation (2006 - 2014) and advisor to the president of RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East), of which he was elected Vice-president and then in 2001 First Vice-president of RAIPON. In 1991 he was elected as Chairman of the Indigenous Peoples Association of the Primorskiy kray. He was a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2005 to 2011. Adrian Lasimbang, Malaysia (English, Bahasa Malaysia) Mr. Lasimbang is the Executive Director of TONIBUNG, a social enterprise promoting renewable energy in Malaysia. He also owns and serves as the Executive Director of Penampang Renewable Energy Sdn. Bhd. He has over 18 years of experience in community-based renewable energy system for electrification and small-scale biogas household cooking in rural areas in Sabah and community-based micro hydro systems in remote indigenous (Orang Asal) villages in Malaysia. He has also been working in community watershed management projects since 1999, conducting community awareness workshops, participatory mapping, enrichment planting and gravity water supply systems.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York. Adriana Quinto Sánchez, Colombia (Spanish) Adriana Quinto Sánchez belongs to the Nasa Peoples of the Shelter of Yaquiva, located in the Tierradentro Cauca region of Colombia. She was born in this same place in1987. Simultaneous to participation in the political-organizational process championed by the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca CRIC, She studied linguistics at the National University of Colombia and now She is a candidate for a Master's Degree in Communication, Development and Social Change of the Santo Tomas de Aquino University. Within her professional and community experience, mainly from a social, cultural, territorial, educational and ecological approach, She has accompanied processes of defense of human rights, individual and collective of indigenous peoples and also other vulnerable sectors of the country, according to its dynamics and cosmogonies, in order to improve living conditions. She focuses on goal 6 and 15 on the SDG’s. Dali Angel, Mexico (Spanish). Ms. Angel is a young indigenous Zapoteca woman from the community of San Juan Jaltepec, Oaxaca. She is the coordinator of the Commission on Youth and Indigenous Children for the Ciarena organization in Oaxaca. She is active in the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and also a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Global Leadership School of the International Indigenous Women Forum..
Cong Hoang Duong, Viet Nam (Vietnamese, English). Mr. Hoang Duong is a Project Officer for the Centre for Sustainable Development in Mountainous Areas (CSDM), a non-profit organization based in Vietnam. He belongs to Tay indigenous group and his work mainly focuses on promoting sustainable natural resource management and community livelihoods through micro financing and agroforestry projects. He also assists local levels in Vietnam in their collective development planning. In addition, he has been engaging continuously in REDD and climate change related processes from national to global levels.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York. Devi Anggraini, Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia, English). Ms. Anggraini is the Chairperson of Persekutuan Perempuan Adat Nusantara (PEREMPUAN AMAN), the country wide Indigenous Women Alliance in Indonesia, elected in 2015. She has been involved with the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) since its establishment. She founded Hakiki foundation focusing mainly on indigenous women empowerment. She has extensive experience in relation to the role of indigenous women in natural resource management systems, traditional knowledge and has been focusing on the positioning of indigenous women in the 2030 Agenda as well as advocating for engendering participatory mapping in Indonesia since 1999. Dharamchand Kher, India (Hindi, English). Mr. Kher is currently the Convener of Rajasthan Tribal Rights Forum. In 2003, he joined Adivasi Vikas Manch Jansangathan, for which he was elected as Convenor in 2008 to lead the organization. He has worked in Mahand, which is one of the most least developed & remotest region in the State, to organize local tribal community & strengthen Gram Sabhas (village councils). He extensively travelled to the communities and focused on common problems such as harassment by forest officials, labor problems, lack of implementation of public welfare scheme, etc. and raised voice against these issues through Gram Sabhas. Gam Awungshi Shimray, India (English, Hindi)Mr. Shimray is the Secretary General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) since 2017. He started working on indigenous peoples’ issues in 1993 and became the Convener of the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights, an indigenous movement based in Northeast India, in 1998. He has served as one of the expert members of Technical and Policy Core Group for the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan of the Ministry of Environment and Forest of India and the National Coordinator of the All India Coordinating Forum of the Adivasi/Indigenous Peoples in India. He has worked in various capacities with indigenous peoples’ organizations at regional and global levels and holds a Postgraduate Diplomate in Development Studies with focus on differential diagnosis for ending poverty in India.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York. Gunn-Britt Retter, Norway (English). Ms. Retter lives in the coastal Saami community Unjárga-Nesseby in north-eastern Norway. She is a teacher of training from Sámi University of Applied Sciences and holds MA in Bilingual studies from University of Wales. Since 2001, Retter has worked in Arctic environmental issues – first at Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat (IPS) (Denmark) and since 2005 in the present position as Head of Arctic and Environmental Unit of the Saami Council. In her present position, Retter has been involved in issues related to indigenous peoples and knowledge associated with climate change, biodiversity, language, pollution and management of natural resources. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Chad (English, French and Arabic).Ms. Oumarou Ibrahim is Coordinator of the Association des Femmes Peules Autochtones du Tchad (AFPAT), a community-based organization working for the rights of indigenous Peule women and people of Chad. For the past decade, she has regularly participated meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and was selected to represent civil society at the 22 April signing ceremony of the historic Paris climate agreement. She is also an Executive Committee member of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) and Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change. She belongs to Peule Mbororo pastoralist community of Chad, a group of an estimated 250,000 nomads engaged in subsistence farming in the Sahel region. Hsin Su, Taiwan/China (Mandarin Chinese, English). Ms. Su belongs to Papora indigenous community in Nantou County in central Taiwan. She is a human right defender for the non-recognized indigenous Ping-pu groups. She is also a PhD candidate at Civil Engineering department in National Chi Nan University. She has been engaged in programs related to Sustainable Development Goals, land rights, disaster management and climate change with indigenous groups, local government, indigenous NGOs and Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition. She has distinguished herself as a conscientious and energetic pioneer in the fields of culture preservation, indigenous issues and disaster management.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York. Janene Yazzie (Diné), USA (English).Ms. Yazzie has been working for the last six years as a community organizer, entrepreneur and human rights advocate. She studied International Policy and Human Rights and has a decade of experience in business development, non-profit development, policy development and project management. She has an extensive background helping Indigenous communities build their capacity and local autonomy by exercising sovereignty to promote self-sufficiency and restoration of traditional ecological knowledge systems and practices. Her work is centred on addressing complex socio-economic challenges while building resilience to climate change while protecting Indigenous lands, territories and resources.
Joseph Ole Simel, Kenya (English, Swahili). Mr. Simel is a Maasai and serves as Executive Director of the Mainyoito Pastoralists Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO). He has extensive experience and interest in human rights activism and pastoral communities’ development. Founded in 1996, MPIDO’s mission is to promote the human rights of pastoralists and to help facilitate their social, economic and political development.
Jo Shua, Myanmar (English, Burmese). Mr. Jo Shua currently serves as the Associate Director of Disability Development Initiative (DDI), which he joined in 2016 as Program Manager. He himself is a person with a disability and belongs to Chin indigenous group from Chin State in western Myanmar. He is engaged in awareness raising and advocacy on UN Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities and Myanmar’s disability rights laws, including in relation to indigenous communities. He is also one of the researchers for the Myanmar Federation of Persons with Disabilities and acts as the focal person for Indigenous Persons with Disabilities in Myanmar. Further, he is also engaged in monitoring and evaluation in the Chin Civil Societies Network.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York. Khampanh Keovilaysak, Lao PDR (Lao, English). Mr. Keovilaysak belongs to Brao indigenous group in Lao PDR. He has been working with the Global Association for People and the Environment (GAPE) since 2003, where he is currently the Program Manager. He is responsible to support indigenous communities in primary education development, livelihoods improvement, community-based natural resource management and legal education. He has extensive experience in natural resource management systems of indigenous peoples and been facilitating communities in establishment of community forests and traditional use of forests, which are approved by district heads. Luong Hai Yen, Viet Nam (Vietnamese, English). Ms. Hai Yen is one of the founders of the Vietnam Traditional Knowledge Network (VTIK), which she joined since 2007. She is also affiliated with the Centre for Sustainable Development in Mountainous Areas (CSDM) while focusing on the rights of culture and traditional practices and forest tenure and land rights of indigenous peoples in Vietnam. She has been involved in the issues of traditional knowledge and supporting indigenous communities, particularly in their livelihoods development, for more than a decade. She also has extensive experience in climate change and resilience related issues.
Patricia Miranda Wattimena, Indonesia (English, Bahasa Indonesia). Ms. Wattimena belongs to Haruku indigenous group of Maluku province located in eastern Indonesia. She is the Advocacy Coordinator of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) since 2016 where acts as the focal point for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) processes and Land Rights Now campaign. She also represents AIPP in the Global Coordinating Committee of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development (IPMG) and as focal person for indigenous peoples’ constituency in the Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (AP-RCEM). She further supports AIPP’s Executive Council in the overall coordination of advocacy works of the organization.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York. Roberto Borrero, Puerto Rico, USA (English). Mr. Borrero is an indigenous Taino from Puerto Rico and the current UN Programs Consultant and Communications Coordinator for the International Indian Treaty Council. He has been strongly engaged in the consultation process towards the 2030 Agenda for the Indigenous Peoples Major Group. He has a broad range of experience and expertise in Caribbean and other indigenous peoples’ issues. His unique perspective draws from his ancestral heritage, mentorship from indigenous elders, and years of experience in human rights and environmental advocacy. He has shared his expertise in various capacities within the UN system, PBS, BBC, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Institute for American Indian Studies and Tribal Link Foundation, among others.
Higinio Obispo González Hai Yen, Higinio Obispo González, perteneciente al Pueblo Eperara Siapidara (Nariño), Secretario General de la Organización Nacional de Indígenas de Colombia ONIC. Ha trabajado en la titulación de los resguardos de la Costa Pacifico de Nariño, han desarrollo procesos de formación de líderes, ha sido director de Centros Educativos y en los 18 departamentos han impulsado la unión y articulación de la Nación Embera. Filósofo Indígena y Licenciado en Educación.
Stella Ceballos. Es activista del Pueblo Charrúa de Uruguay. Actualmente es la Presidenta del Consejo de la Nación Charrúa CONACHA e integrante de la Unión de Mujeres Charrúas. El 10 de mayo de 2018, fue invitada por la Coordinadora Residente de las Naciones Unidas en Uruguay, a participar de un taller: "Participación de la Sociedad civil en el Examen Periódico Universal" (EPU). Recordando las recomendaciones del EPU segundo ciclo, realizadas a Uruguay, (2014), y que cuentan con el apoyo de Uruguay. dentro de las cuales se encuentran algunas que hacen referencia a los pueblos indígenas: considerar la posibilidad de adoptar el Convenio 169 de la OIT, con el fin de garantizar la protección y promoción efectivas de los derechos de los pueblos indígenas, contribuyendo así al reconocimiento de su identidad nacional, especialmente en el caso de la Nación Charrúa.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York.
Natalia Sarapura (Argentina), Fue coordinadora general del Consejo de Organizaciones Aborígenes de Jujuy (COAJ). La dirigente tiene una extensa trayectoria. Integró el debate para la Declaración Universal de Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas y formo parte del grupo de negociación de la Declaración Americana sobre Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas. También es miembro de la Cátedra Indígena Intercultural de la Universidad Indígena Intercultural UII.
Natalia Cuevas Arciniega (Mexico), indígena Mixteca de la comunidad de Río Grande Villa de Tututepec, Oaxaca., (perteneciente a la región de la Costa). Coordinadora del colectivo de jóvenes indígenas “PIEDRA PARADA”, perteneciente a la red de colectivos de CIARENA A.C.(Conservación, Investigación y Aprovechamiento de los Recursos Naturales), la cual tiene un trabajo reconocido y enfocado principalmente en Mujeres, Jóvenes y niños de las comunidades Indígenas del estado de Oaxaca.
Celerina Patricia Sánchez Santiago, Ñuu Savi (Pueblo de la Lluvia) Oaxaca. Con una licenciatura en Lingüística, por la Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, ha participado en diferentes procesos organizativos como la Asamblea de Migrantes Indígenas en la ciudad de México, Red mujeres Indígenas por la paz y Alianza de Mujeres indígenas Centroamérica y México. Tiene varios diplomados como “Derechos Indígenas en Zonas Urbanas y Desarrollo”, Por la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Universidad de la Ciudad de México y la Asamblea de Migrantes Indígenas de la Ciudad de México. Como integrante de la Alianza de mujeres indígenas Centroamérica y México, hemos trabajado varios puntos de la ODS, como lo son el 12, 17 como objetivos claves, porque creemos que, si no hay sociedades justas, pacíficas e inclusivas, no podrá haber desarrollo y no se cumplirá con los otros objetivos.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
Spokespersons for press inquiries If you would like to know more about indigenous peoples rights during the HLPF, please contact indigenous representatives available in New York.
Saúl Vicente Vázquez, (México). Miembro Experto del Foro Permanente para las Cuestiones Indígenas de 2011 a 2013. Miembro de la Mesa Directiva del Consejo Internacional de Tratados Indios (IITC por sus siglas en inglés). Secretario de Asuntos de Pueblos Indígenas de la Unidad de la Fuerza Indígena y Campesina (UFIC), organización Nacional, México. (2006-2009). Fundador del Centro de Investigación y Evaluación de Proyectos (CIEP), A.C. “Gubidxa”, así como fundador y miembro del Foro de Organismos Civiles de Oaxaca (FOCO) y fundador del Frente por la Democracia y el Desarrollo de Oaxaca. (FDD-COCEI).
Sylvia Elias, Pohnpei, (Micronesia) 27 years old and came from the small island of Pohnpei, Micronesia –North Pacific. Earned her Masters in Social Work from the University of Hawaii-Manoa in 2017 and her Bachelors of Social Work from the University of Guam in 2015. She started in her Country’s Community College of Micronesia –Federated States of Micronesia and earned associate degrees in Liberal Arts and Micronesian Studies. Ms. Elias completed the Global Indigenous Women Leadership School on Advocacy with FIMI at the University of Columbia and the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Sylvia Elias is one of the Pacific Focal Points in the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus.
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INDIGENOUS VOICES Media Zone
MEDIA SESSIONS 11/07/2018 10:00- 17:00, United Nations, NY Doubts or questions?
Please contact Joan Carling, Focal Person/Convenor Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development (Philippines) on joan@indigenouspeoples-sdg.org or call +1-917-656-6606
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