The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has recently released the “State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples” dossier. A good overview of the contents in context can be found here.

Like any UNPFII statement about the plight of Indigenous peoples, there are the same generalising prescriptions about ‘culture’ that will sound warning bells to ‘unaffiliated’ Indigenous/non-settler individuals that fall outside of the parameters of ‘tradition’: a problem that has arisen since the trend that began in the late 1980s, which seeks to identify, recognise and perpetuate Aboriginality’s global value.

But the UNPFII seems to be treading more carefully with every publication in this regard. Yet again it has proven that is unafraid to disseminate a document that is thorough and provocative, in the hope that national governments might amend policy relating to:

• Poverty and Well Being
• Culture
• Environment
• Contemporary Education
• Health
• Human Rights
• Emerging Issues

Overall, this is a victory for those who seek to advance a global discourse of Indigenous struggle. As APO writes,

Although the state of the world’s indigenous peoples is alarming, there is some cause for optimism. The international community increasingly recognizes indigenous peoples’ human rights, most prominently evidenced by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous peoples themselves continue to organize for the promotion of their rights. They are the stewards of some of the world’s most biologically diverse areas and their traditional knowledge about the biodibversity of these areas is invaluable. As the effects of climate change are becoming clearer, it is increaslingly evident that indigenous peoples must play a central role in developing adaptation and mitigation efforts to this global challenge.