This week in review … E-discussion launched on post-2015 development agenda and indigenous peoples

Post-2015 and Indigenous Peoples: E-discussion
PFII release, 27 November 2012

NEW YORK, USA: This e-discussion on inequalities and indigenous peoples in the post-2015 development agenda begins on 27 November and will continue for three weeks. It is the sixth in the series of discussions, and aims to galvanize dialogue and discussion in framing the post-2015 agenda. It is co-moderated by UNICEF and the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The recommendations emerging from the e-discussions will be part of a synthesis report that will be presented to a high-level meeting in Denmark in February 2013 on Inequalities. The report will also be provided to the high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda appointed by the UN Secretary-General. Representatives of civil society, academia, the UN, governments, the private sector and other interested individuals are invited to visit the discussion forum to participate. Visit the discussion website … Read the SPFII release …

 

This week in review … UNPFII opens at UN Headquarters in New York

Indigenous peoples’ forum opens at UN with call to turn rights into reality
UN News Centre, 16 May 2011

NEW YORK, USA: More than 1,300 delegates are expected to participate in this year’s session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is held from 16-27 May 2011, at the UN Headquarters in New York. This year, the Forum will focus on reviewing recommendations and their implementation related to economic and social development, the environment, and free, prior and informed consent. Opening the forum, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007, finally had the consensus support it deserved. “Now we need to make the declaration’s principles a reality,” he said, stressing that protecting and promoting the rights of indigenous peoples benefited everyone, and not only those groups. Read the news release … Visit the meeting webpage … Read the Secretary-General’s statement …

 

Resource: Community management of natural resources in Africa

Community management of natural resources in Africa: Impacts, experiences and future directions
Dilys Roe, Fred Nelson and Chris Sandbrook (eds)
International Institute for Environment and Development Natural Resource Issues 18 (2009) | ISBN 978-1-84369-755-8

This review provides a pan-African synthesis of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), drawing on multiple authors and a wide range of documented experiences from Southern, Eastern, Western and Central Africa. The review discusses the degree to which CBNRM has met poverty alleviation, economic development and nature conservation objectives. In its concluding chapter, the report suggests a way forward for strengthening CBNRM and addressing key challenges in the years ahead. Download the review [pdf] …

 

This week in review … Trinidad and Tobago hosts meeting on knowledge management for development

Trinidad and Tobago to host expert group meeting on knowledge management for development Port-of-Spain, 17 November
UN press release, 13 November 2009

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean is convening a regional expert group meeting on knowledge management for development, to be held in 17 November 2009. A report on Knowledge Management for Development will be presented at the meeting. Two main aspects of the report are: the existence of a rich cultural heritage and traditional knowledge in the Caribbean that can lead to potential contributions to the subregion’s development; and the development of a knowledge-management approach as a key contributing factor towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Read the press release …

 

Resource: SPFII Desk Review of Human Development Reports

Human Development Reports and Indigenous Peoples – A Desk Review
Jennifer Donato, Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, May 2009

The SPFII has made available the Desk Review of Human Development Reports on the following countries: Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, as well as the Asia-Pacific Region. Each HDR is addressed separately, following a standard format: a brief introduction to the country’s indigenous peoples and a summary of main observations relating to indigenous peoples’ issues in the report; specific review of how each chapter of the report addresses or not indigenous peoples, including specific attention to the Millennium Development Goals; and brief concluding remarks. Download the Desk Review [pdf] …

 

This week in review … TK should be preserved for traditional medicine to assist in achieving MDGs, ECOSOC told

Potential of traditional medicine should be fostered, Economic and Social Council President tells panel on attaining Millennium Development Goals in public health

UN press release, 12 February 2009

 

NEW YORK, USA: “We cannot ignore the potential of traditional medicine” in the race to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and renew primary health care for those who lacked access to it, Economic and Social Council President Sylvie Lucas stressed as she launched the 54-member body’s first panel discussion in connection with its upcoming 2009 Annual Ministerial Review theme. The discussion, on “The contribution of traditional medicine to the realization of international development objectives related to global public health”, featured four experts:  Xiaorui Zhang, Coordinator for Traditional Medicine, Department of Essential Medicine and Pharmaceutical Policies, World Health Organization (WHO); Antony Taubman, Director and Head of the Global Intellectual Property Issues and Life Sciences Program, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); Myriam Conejo, Coordinator of the Centro de Salud Jambi Huasi, Quito, Ecuador; and S. Rama Rao, Officer-in-Charge, WIPO, New York.

 

If a link between tradition and innovation was to be established, local populations had to be protected from the unauthorized use of their knowledge and plants, ECOSOC President Lucas said. Intellectual property rights could be used to that end, and UN bodies were working to shape a framework for the use of traditional medicine for development. Taubman said the difficult issues surrounding traditional medicine had arisen from a lack of respect for traditional knowledge systems – including communities. Indigenous peoples were custodians of traditional medicines, and a failure to respect that carried legal and practical implications … Traditional knowledge systems were not just “facts”; they formed the cultural identity of indigenous peoples, and mishandling by others could be seen as an assault on the cultural identity of a community. He said prior informed consent of traditional knowledge holders must be obtained prior to its use, and highlighted the need for a binding definition of “traditional knowledge.” Trade in traditional medicine at the international level was a topic touched on by Rao, who spoke on legal protection and mainstreaming of traditional medicines, which was being attempted by the Government of India with the aid of its “traditional knowledge digital library.” He said the digital library was now being used to facilitate international trade negotiations between India and other countries. So far, the Indian Government had reached an agreement with the European Patent Office so that herbal medicines originating from India could not be patented in Europe without first referring to the database. Negotiations on a similar arrangement with the United States Trademark and Patent Office were currently ongoing. Read the press release …

 

This week in review … Both TK and modern innovations needed for sustainable soil management, researcher says

Ten steps to better management of our soils

Agriculture Online, 30 January 2009

 

OHIO, USA: From food security to climate change to energy demands, the world faces a myriad of critical sustainability issues, all whose potential solution may lie right beneath our feet. Rattan Lal, an Ohio State University soil scientist with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, suggests that soil and its resources are the answer, and sustainability can be achieved through the realization of 10 basic management principles. The principles, published in the January/February 2009 issue of Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, as well as the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development, are meant to encourage policymakers to support soil amendment practices. One of these principles suggests that traditional knowledge and modern innovations go hand-in-hand. One cannot solve current global issues without the other. “We can develop upon traditional knowledge, but those who ignore modern innovations must be prepared to endure more sufferings,” said Lal. Read the article …

 

Funding opportunity: SEED Awards 2009

Seed Awards 2009 – Call for submissions

The Seed Initiative, January 2009

 

Do you have an entrepreneurial and innovative idea that is locally-driven and has great potential to contribute to sustainable development in countries with developing or transition economies? If you meet SEED’s eligibility criteria, you could apply now for the 2009 SEED Awards for entrepreneurship in sustainable development. The deadline for applications is 16 March 2009. Download the press release [pdf] … Visit the Seed Initiative’s website …