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ILO seeks better deal for indigenous people in post-2015 development agenda

By Collins Olayinka, Abuja
11 August 2015   |   12:14 am
THE International Labour Organization (ILO) said there is the need for new and innovative approaches that enhance the visibility of indigenous peoples in the post-2015 development agenda.

International labour organizationTHE International Labour Organization (ILO) said there is the need for new and innovative approaches that enhance the visibility of indigenous peoples in the post-2015 development agenda.

Speaking on the 2015 edition of the International Day for the Indigenous Peoples, the ILO said this year’s theme is: “Post-2015 Agenda: Ensuring indigenous peoples’ health and wellbeing.”

It therefore observed that the post-2015 development agenda is expected to offer a powerful tool for securing and protecting the rights of women and men from groups subjected to persistent marginalization and exclusion and responding to their needs.

Indigenous peoples are often highly vulnerable to such marginalization and exclusion. They are active in the world of work where they engage in an array of livelihood activities, increasingly combining traditional occupations and practices with new sources of income generation. They can also rely on their traditional skills and knowledge as assets for commercial activities such as the creation of enterprises and cooperatives.

ILO insisted that yet the indigenous peoples commonly experience discrimination and exploitation. Indigenous women face the double disadvantage of gender and ethnicity, saying, change is long overdue.

It also stated that indigenous peoples have the right to decent work and decent work has a key role to play in ensuring their health and wellbeing.

“With increasing pressure on traditional livelihood strategies, indigenous women and men are seeking employment opportunities but often end up in unprotected and precarious work, largely in the informal economy. Beyond the personal consequences, this denial of rights at work and the dignity of work also has far-reaching implications for the development and well-being of their communities,” it maintained.

ILO stressed that a better and just future for indigenous peoples demands new and innovative approaches that enhance the visibility of indigenous peoples and pay attention to their concerns, needs and aspirations. Respect for their cultures, traditions and ways of life must be the foundation of the way forward. Ensuring that their voice is heard in the design and implementation of policies and measures meant to enhance their living and working conditions is fundamental.

The global labour body said the Post-2015 Development Agenda as well as the follow-up to the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (2014) will provide important frameworks for stepping up our efforts to ensure that they can work in dignity with respect for their rights and inclusion in the coverage of social protection floors.

The ILO’s international labour standards provide valuable guidance towards these ends. They include the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No.169) in which handicrafts, rural and community-based industries, as well as subsistence economy and traditional activities of indigenous peoples, are identified as important factors in the maintenance of their cultures and in their economic self-reliance and development. Other relevant Conventions include the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No.202), and the Transition from the informal to the formal economy recommendation (No.204) adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2015.

The ILO declared that it is ready to work with governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations and in partnership with indigenous peoples, and as part of the UN family to ensure that indigenous peoples may enjoy access to decent work in inclusive and sustainable development processes.

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