Tuesday, 15 July 2025, Palais des Nations, Geneva
Statement on
Item 5 (continued): United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples:
Interactive dialogue with UNPFII, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, and the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples and members of the
United Nations Treaty Bodies (public
by Gunjal Ikir Munda on behalf of Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus
Thank you, Madam Chair,
I am, Gunjal Ikir Munda speaking on behalf of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Caucus. At the outset I would like to acknowledge and thank the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples for providing me and other grantees the necessary means for us to take part in this important gathering.
We would like to thank EMRIP for your studies on “the rights of Indigenous Peoples to data, including data collection and disaggregation” and on “Efforts to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional economies”.
The Asia Indigenous Peoples Caucus acknowledges the vital role of traditional economic activities and practices of Indigenous Peoples which proved highly effective in many Asian countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and helped save countless lives. However, in most Asian countries, the lack of formal recognition of traditional tenure systems marginalizes Indigenous Peoples and increases their vulnerability to land appropriation, displacement, and economic exclusion.
We welcome the Expert Mechanism’s report and its recommendations to strengthen the rights of Indigenous Peoples to our traditional economies. Although the report has been submitted, we would still like to highlight these critical areas that, though, are implicit in the report, do require enhanced attention for achieving the goals of the recommendations.
First, we call for the inclusion of traditional Indigenous economies and value system into national education systems. Our youth must be taught not only about “mainstream” economics but also about our own knowledge systems. Indigenous knowledge holders must be recognized as educators, and our languages and ecological philosophies included in curricula.
Second, Indigenous Peoples must be supported in building our own data systems to measure and communicate the value of our economies. Without culturally grounded indicators, our contributions remain invisible. We need support to develop statistical tools rooted in our ways of knowing — not imposed metrics that reduce our lifeways to numbers.
We call upon EMRIP, UNPFII, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, UN Voluntary fund and other UN bodies to recognize these as priority areas and to recommend that States:
- Collaborate with Indigenous Peoples to decolonize education systems and fund traditional economic education and Indigenous culture competency building programs.
- Adopt mandatory safeguards to prevent forced evictions, physical or economic displacement, and encroachment on the territories of Indigenous Peoples.
- Support Indigenous Peoples in strengthening their traditional economies by revitalizing customary governance systems, enhancing collective resource management, and advancing food sovereignty—including legally recognizing and respecting Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty over their knowledge and data.
- Finally, legally recognize and promote Indigenous Peoples’ traditional economies by adopting comprehensive legal and policy frameworks aligned with international standards, including the UNDRIP, ILO Convention 169 and other core human rights treaties.
Thank you.
