by Altaire Cambata
The Global Thematic Consultation on Addressing Inequalities (co-led by UNICEF and UN Women) is hosting a round of online, moderated discussions that will be open to the public through December 14, 2012. The theme of the forum addresses the criticism that Indigenous Peoples were absent from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) processes, devised in 2000 and scheduled to end in 2015, as well as the larger criticism that the MDGs have not reached the poorest and most marginalized communities. The function of the discussion is to gather perspectives from a wide range of stakeholders on how the post-2015 development agenda can better approach Indigenous inequalities.
These stakeholders may include individuals from within academia, the media, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society, the private sector, or the government: in general however, any person interested is encouraged to lend their voice. Recommendations in the form of contributions to the forum will be used to formulate a report entitled, “Addressing Inequalities in the Post-2015 Development Agenda”, to be presented at an influential meeting to a high-level panel in February, 2013 in Copenhagen.
The online discussion will be co-moderated by the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (SPFII) and experts from Indigenous Peoples’ organizations such as representatives from the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the NGO Committee on the UN International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
Conversation prompts include the following questions:
1. What are the most important forms of inequalities faced by Indigenous Peoples? This question includes discussion of where and among whom these challenges occur, their severity, the evidence about them, etc.
2. What are the major structural factors at the root of these inequalities, within and among different societies?
3. What kinds of policies, strategies or interventions have been most successful in addressing the various inequalities experienced by Indigenous Peoples? And under which conditions/in which situations have particular policies, strategies or interventions had the greatest, lasting impact? (Contributors may wish to cite examples or give references to these “successes”).
4. Based on experience, what are the most important recommendations that could be proposed in the Post-2015 Development Agenda for making a lasting and transformative impact on the different forms of inequalities faced by Indigenous Peoples?
5. What actions and initiatives could be taken by different stakeholders, including civil society and Indigenous Peoples organizations, to bring about lasting improvements in these inequalities? And how should those who face inequalities themselves be enabled to participate in the implementation phase of the new Development Framework?.
To participate, please post your response in the discussion forum at www.worldwewant2015.org/node/284745. You are invited to register to the consultation here. The site is available in English, French and Spanish. You are invited to post your comments in any of the sixty languages supported by Google Translate. If you are unable to access the site, please email your response to: inequalities@worldwewant2015.org.