IPMSDL Co-organizes Indigenous Peoples' Workshop on Aid and Development Effectiveness in Alta, Norway

June 12, 2013, Alta, Norway – The Indigenous Peoples’ Workshop on Aid and Development Effectiveness, a side event of the Global Indigenous Peoples’ Preparatory Conference on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples was successfully held in Alta, Norway on June 12, 2013. Around 40 Indigenous Peoples from various countries attended the said event initiated by the Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL). This side event is the third of a series of workshops successfully conducted starting April this year regarding indigenous peoples, and the Aid and Development Effectiveness. The first one was held in Baguio City, Philippines and the second was held during the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York.

The participants to the side event showed their interest on the presentations of the speakers as they also raised their concerns and experiences on their own engagements in aid and development processes. Mr. Antonio Tujan Jr. of the IBON International and the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness presented the over-view on Effectiveness in Development Cooperation. Ms. Joan Carling, the secretary general of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact discussed the concrete experiences and engagement of the Indigenous Peoples in Asia in accessing Official Development Assistance ODA and other Development Aid. On the other hand, Mr. Legborsi Saro Pyagbara of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) from Nigeria focused on the actual experiences and lessons of indigenous peoples in Africa in relation to the topic. Ms. Anne Nuorgam, the Vice President of the Saami Council and Ragnhild Nystad, the president of the Mama Sara Education Foundation for Maasai Children graced the event with their presence and even shared their work in providing development aid to Indigenous Peoples of the developing countries. The speakers encourage the Indigenous Peoples to familiarize themselves on Aid and Development Effectiveness to actively engage on its discourses and processes.

“Indigenous Peoples should engage in Aid and development effectiveness discourses, but it should be based on our self-determined and sustainable development. In order to build a stronger and productive partnership with the CSOs on this discourses and processes, they should be continuously educated on the Indigenous Peoples’ concrete concerns and situations,” said Mr. Windel Bolinget, IPMSDL Spokesperson and Cordillera Peoples Alliance Chairperson, who was moderating the side event.

Together with IPMSDL, the side event was co-organized by the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network (APIYN), Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE), and the Saami Council of Norway.

June 12, is also the last day of the Global Indigenous Peoples’ Preparatory Meeting on WCIP where in the Alta outcome document, crafted by the Indigenous Peoples themselves was affirmed by the 600 Indigenous Peoples present in the meeting in Alta, Norway. The rights of Indigenous Peoples to development cooperation aid was incorporated in this document which will be submitted to the United Nations High Level Plenary Meeting, known as the WCIP, in September 2014 in New York.#