The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples continued its eighth annual session today, with indigenous speakers decrying Governments’ near-total disregard for their rights in the development of roads, waterways and extractive projects; negotiation of free trade agreements; and drafting of national legislation that impacted their lives.

In a day-long meeting that heard almost 60 speakers take the floor, indigenous representatives from all regions called on States that had not yet done so to swiftly endorse the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and redress what they viewed as an entrenched lack of respect for their values -- even existence -– laid bare in unjust laws and “policies of territorial manipulation”.

A representative of the Asian Indigenous Peoples Caucus said the situation was desperate in his part of the world, where indigenous peoples were losing their lands at an alarming rate, due to development of hydropower and other projects.  They needed technical support to protect their natural resources, and he called on States, the World Bank and other multilateral institutions to consider alternative systems to fossil fuel-based energy, bio-energy and hydropower dams. 

Echoing that call, a representative of the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazonian River Basin (COICA) was concerned that people in his region were being repressed by Governments that signed contracts with multinational companies without considering their right to free, prior and informed consent.  Moreover, indigenous peoples’ access to water was not being prioritized and he condemned Governments’ refusal to declare water as a human right.  He asked the Forum and participating countries to demand implementation of environmental and social standards for projects carried out in indigenous territories. 

“We are not trying to take crumbs from the table,” the delegate from Red de Instituciones y Organizaciones Mayas del Quiche, Maya Vision asserted.  “We have our own worth and contribute to our societies.”  Because of that, Governments had to comply with the international conventions they signed.  Indigenous peoples had a right to be consulted on issues on which they were vulnerable -– yet they lacked the ability to make real decisions in social, political and environmental spheres. 

Responding to those calls, a participant from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) discussed a training programme that aimed to strengthen indigenous representatives’ ability to negotiate improvements to all areas under the Forum’s mandate:  health; education; culture; environment; economic and social development; and human rights.  Most cases focused on the two greatest challenges to indigenous peoples:  conflict over land and resource issues; and marginalization from political and economic processes. 

The meeting also heard from representatives of Government -– participating as observers -- and international financial institutions who stressed the importance of conservation and the equitable sharing of benefits. 

For their part, Government representatives defended measures taken to address challenges faced by indigenous peoples and outlined steps to improve health, education and other services in the areas in which they lived.   Mexico’s delegate said her Government had substantially increased the federal budget for guaranteeing a full life for indigenous people -– from 13.3 million pesos in 2001 to 31 million pesos in 2008.  Some 38.1 million had been earmarked in 2009, a 22.8 per cent increase over last year.  She conceded that Mexico needed to move from commitment to action in the implementation of the rights set forth in the Declaration.

The representative of Namibia’s Office of the Prime Minister pointed out that the term “indigenous people” was not suitable for his country, since all Namibians were indigenous, but the term “most marginalized people” was applicable and it referred to the extreme poor.  To make that connection, he discussed the creation of a programme to integrate San communities into the economic mainstream, and thus achieve the Millennium Development Goal to eradicate extreme poverty.

The representative of the Russian Federation noted that national legislation on indigenous peoples was still being fine-tuned in accordance with the Declaration and the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People. 

ROMAN KASHAEV ( Russian Federation) said his country was the most multi-ethnic country in the world.  It had 46 ethnic groups and 280,000 units living in 30 areas of the country.  National legislation on indigenous peoples was still being fine tuned in accordance with the Declaration and the Second Decade.  The Government had been taking a myriad of steps to improve health, education and other services in areas in which indigenous people lived.  A national policy protected indigenous people in the country’s north.  It aimed at preserving their cultural heritage and traditional occupations, raising their level of access to education, reducing child mortality and improving their overall health.  The policy would be carried out in three stages from 2009 to 2025.

Further, he reported, there were proposals to introduce several amendments to federal legislation in order to better protect indigenous communities, also in the north, including in Siberia.  And work was under way to develop another important legislative act to determine losses, including lost profits, that indigenous peoples incurred for losing access to their land and other natural resources, as well as a procedure to address damages to their ancestral land.  The Russian Federation was ready to contribute constructively to indigenous issues of other countries.