Twelve Days of Action for Indigenous Women's Human Rights

February 26

Indigenous women from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and North America gather for the beginning of the International Indigenous Women's Forum (Foro Internacional de Mujeres Indigenas or FIMI) Conference, "Bringing Indigenous Perspectives to the International Arena". Participants discuss the role of Indigenous women in sustainable development and combating the impact of economic globalization and armed conflict on Indigenous women and their families.

During day two of the IIWF/FIMI Conference, Indigenous women continue to integrate their agendas in preparation for the United Nations' 49th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, this year known as Beijing+10 Review Process (or simply Beijing+10). Participants focus on the application of international law to Indigenous struggles and building Indigenous women's capacity to advocate for their rights on local, national, and international levels.

Beijing+10 begins.
Indigenous women attend the first of five capacity-building trainings organized by IIWF/FIMI, MADRE, and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII), which provide an opportunity for Indigenous women to strengthen their advocacy skills and knowledge of how to navigate the international arena. At today's training, Indigenous women learn about the PFII and its role in advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
IIWF/FIMI issues a declaration based on strategy sessions held during its February 26-27 conference, "Bringing Indigenous Perspectives to the International Arena: An Indigenous Women's Conference".

Indigenous women participate in a training on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of commitments made by UN Member States that include pledges to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, promote sustainable development, combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and improve maternal health by the year 2015. Participants discuss ways in which the MDGs can be useful in promoting an Indigenous women's rights agenda and the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

Indigenous women participate in a training about the role of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples. Participants learn how the Special Rapporteur can be useful in helping to monitor the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous women's rights in their respective countries.

Indigenous women participate in a training session about the role of women in conflict and post-conflict situations. They learn about international monitoring mechanisms, including UN Resolution 1325, that can be used when advocating for Indigenous women's human rights in such contexts.
IIWF/FIMI, MADRE, and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues co-sponsor a press conference at the UN, "Indigenous Women's Human Rights and Beijing + 10". Indigenous women leaders from Latin America, Asia, and Africa speak out about urgent human rights issues affecting their communities such as poverty, a rise in trafficking of women and girls, armed conflicts, violence against women, neo-liberal economic policies, and the spread of preventable diseases.

At the final training session, Indigenous women learn about the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and ways to use CEDAW when advocating for Indigenous women's human rights at local, national, and international levels.

IIWF/FIMI, MADRE, The Hunger Project, CHIRAPAQ, and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues co-sponsor a panel, "Women's Empowerment in Rural Communities". Panelists discuss food security, land use, and resource management among Indigenous Peoples and the role of Indigenous women in promoting food security and sustainable development.

On International Women's Day, Indigenous women join a march and rally organized by Code Pink to protest the destructive impact of US policies on women around the world and to demand US accountability to international human rights agreements such as the Beijing Platform for Action.

Indigenous women press for the passage of a UN resolution recognizing Indigenous women's rights within the Beijing+10 Review Process, "Indigenous women beyond the ten-year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action".

IIWF/FIMI, MADRE, and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues co-sponsor a press conference, "Violence against Indigenous Women". Speakers discuss a precipitous rise in violence against Indigenous women in Canada; violence committed by British soldiers against Indigenous Samburu women in Kenya; and the role of racism, discrimination, and neo-liberal economic policies in perpetrating violence against Indigenous women in Latin America and other regions of the world.
IIWF/FIMI, MADRE, and the Women of Color Resource Center co-sponsor a panel, "US Policy: Women's Security and Human Rights". Panelists discuss how US policy, with the US occupation of Iraq and US-supported occupation of Palestine as examples, threaten women's human rights and human security around the world.