9 August 2017 – Ten years after the adoption of the the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, progress in several countries has been made in formally recognizing indigenous peoples, but overwhelmingly they continue to face discrimination, marginalization and major challenges in enjoying their basic rights.

&#8220While indigenous peoples have made significant advancements in advocating for their rights in international and regional fora, implementation of the Declaration is impeded by persisting vulnerability and exclusion, and exclusion, particularly among indigenous women, children, youth and persons with disabilities,&#8221 said 40 UN system entities and other international organizations in a joint UN statement, issued on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, marked annually on 9 August.

The Declaration, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 September 2007, establishes a universal framework of minimum survival standards for the dignity and well-being of the world’s indigenous peoples. It is the most comprehensive international instrument on indigenous peoples’ collective rights, including the rights to self-determination, traditional lands and culture.

Declaration on indigenous rights stands as &#8220beacon of progress&#8221

&#8220The Declaration, which took more than twenty years to negotiate, stands today as a beacon of progress, a framework for reconciliation and a benchmark of rights,&#8221 underscored Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a joint statement on the Day.

&#8220But a decade on, we need to acknowledge the vast challenges that remain. In too many cases, indigenous peoples are now facing even greater struggles and rights violations than they did ten years ago,&#8221 they added.

Protecting the rights and dignity of indigenous peoples is protecting everyone’s rights UNESCO chief, Irina Bokova

Although some countries have taken constitutional and legislative measures to recognize their rights and identities, exclusion, marginalization and violence continue to be widespread.

With this in mind, Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said that as custodians and practitioners of unique cultures and relationships with the natural environment, indigenous peoples embody a wide range of linguistic and cultural diversity at the heart of our shared humanity.

&#8220Protecting their rights and dignity is protecting everyone’s rights and respecting humanity’s soul, past and future,&#8221 she said, noting that UNESCO’s latest Global Education Monitoring Report provides concrete guidance and policy advice for the advancement of indigenous peoples’ rights. The agency also launched the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) programme in 2002 to support governments in creating synergies between scientific and indigenous peoples’ knowledge.

There are an estimated 370 million indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries. The Shavante Indian in Brazil is preparing his son for the “oio,” a ceremonial club fight young boys participate in to show their passage from boyhood to manhood. UN Photo/Joseane Daher

Indigenous peoples make up less than five per cent of the world’s population, but account for 15 per cent of the poorest. Above, a member of the Dogons tribe in southern Mali uses indigenous irrigation techniques to grow vegetables and millet. UN Photo/John Isaac

An overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages are spoken by indigenous peoples, who also represent 5,000 different cultures. Pictured here are indigenous Inuit women in the Uummannaq community of Greenland. UN Photo/Mark Garten

Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment. Forced displacement, including from armed conflict as was the case with the Embera children from Colombia (above), can sometimes lead to the total collapse of traditional authority and cultural patterns. UN Photo/Mark Garten

Indigenous peoples retain cultural, economic and political characteristics distinct from the dominant societies in which they live. A baby from the indigenous Kadazandusun ethnic group sleeps in a traditional cloth cradle in Malaysia, where UNICEF supports programmes for indigenous and other marginalized children. UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi

Despite their cultural differences, indigenous peoples from around the world share common problems. Students in Peru, pictured here, walk home from school. UNICEF asserts that, in the Andean nation, classes taught in Spanish challenge those who speak only the native Quechua – often leading to students dropping out. UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1606/LeMoyne

On 13 September 2007, the General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – a milestone for the cooperation and solidarity between indigenous peoples and Member States. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca Céspedes (left) speaks to journalists after the adoption in New York. UN Photo/Jenny Rockett

Although major progress has been made in implementing the Declaration, gaps continue to leave indigenous peoples facing exclusion, marginalization and challenges in enjoying their basic rights. For example, deforestation poses risks for the livelihoods of forest-dwelling indigenous peoples, such as those seen here in the Republic of Congo. Photo: UNFPA

The 2017 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, observed on 8 August, marks the tenth anniversary of the Declaration and offers a push for nations to demonstrate political will, and financial commitment, for its implementation. Bright colours and bold patterns adorn the house of the Ndebele tribeswoman above in South Africa. UN Photo/P Mugubane

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Voice and empowerment of indigenous women &#8220more important than ever&#8221

For its part, the UN labour agency said the international community must also renew its commitment to promote the empowerment and voice of indigenous women, according to a

While commending the tenth anniversary of the Declaration, along with its own Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) as instruments guiding public policy and empowering &#8220indigenous communities to pursue their own development priorities,&#8221 the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) underscored that the situation is far from acceptable.

&#8220Indigenous peoples constitute a disproportionate 15 per cent of the world’s poor whereas they are an estimated five per cent of the world’s population. Indigenous women are commonly the poorest of the poor, discriminated against because they are indigenous and because they are women,&#8221 ILO stressed in a statement.

The statement pointed out that their marginalization and social exclusion must be addressed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda.

&#8220Our combined efforts &#8211 governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, indigenous peoples and their organizations, UN partners and others &#8211 can go a long way in ensuring that indigenous peoples are not left behind,&#8221 concluded the ILO statement.

Marking the International Day

As Indigenous experts from Canada, Republic of the Congo, Ecuador and Namibia will celebrate the Day at a special event at UN Headquarters in New York, UN offices globally are also holding events and activities, including in Australia, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

The UN partnered with Twitter to create a special emoji for the Day, which, with the hashtags #WeAreIndigenous and #IndigenousDay, will be live from 8 August to 15 September as &#8220a new way to engage broader audiences in promoting indigenous peoples’ rights.&#8221

8 August 2017 – Concerned that recent developments in Venezuela could lead to further escalation of tensions and hamper a peaceful solution to the crisis, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres again today urged the Government and the opposition to relaunch negotiations for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.

A statement from Mr. Guterres’ spokesman said the UN chief is closely following events in the country and is convinced the crisis cannot be solved through the imposition of unilateral measures, but requires a political solution based on dialogue and compromise.

&#8220At this critical time,&#8221 the Secretary-General urged the Venezuelan Government and the opposition to relaunch negotiations for the benefit of the country’s people, said the statement, adding that Mr. Guterres is strongly supporting the ongoing efforts of the international facilitators and regional actors who are seeking to contribute to this end.

The Secretary-General and other top UN officials have been calling for calm amid the escalating political and economic crisis in Venezuela when mass street demonstrations began in the country in April.

In the months that followed, clashes erupted between security forces and protestors opposing elections for the so-called Constituent Assembly. According to media reports, President Nicolás Maduro has since declared victory in elections for a Constituent Assembly convened by him. The new body could replace the current legislative body, the National Assembly.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, today warned that since the wave of demonstrations began in April, there has been a clear pattern of excessive force used against protesters.

&#8220Several thousand people have been arbitrarily detained, many reportedly subjected to ill-treatment and even torture, while several hundred have been brought before military rather than civilian courts. And these patterns show no signs of abating,&#8221 said the High Commissioner in a statement from his spokesperson.

Responsibility for violations lies at ‘highest levels of Government’ &#8211 UN human rights chief

In the absence of responses from the Venezuelan authorities to requests for access, the High Commissioner deployed a team of human rights officers to conduct remote monitoring of the situation in the country from 6 June to 31 July, including from Panama.

The team conducted some 135 interviews, including with victims and their families, witnesses, first responders and the Attorney-General’s Office &#8211 and also received written information from the Ombudsperson’s Office.

Witnesses told of security forces firing tear gas canisters at short range; buckshot marbles and nuts and bolts were also discharged as ammunition at anti-Government protestors without warning; and deadly force was used against demonstrators as well.

&#8220These violations have occurred amid the breakdown of the rule of law in Venezuela, with constant attacks by the Government against the National Assembly and the Attorney-General’s Office,&#8221 Mr. Zeid continued. &#8220The responsibility for the human rights violations we are recording lies at the highest levels of Government.&#8221　

The team’s findings also indicate patterns of other rights violations, including violent house raids, torture and ill-treatment of detainees in connection with protests.

Witness accounts suggest that the National Guard, National Police and local police forces have systematically used disproportionate force to instil fear, crush dissent and prevent demonstrators from assembling with rare condemnation from Government authorities.　

Without official data, estimates suggest that more than 5,051 people have been arbitrarily detained between 1 April and 31 July, when mass demonstrations, began with some 1,000 reportedly still detained.

Several cases reviewed by the UN rights office revealed credible reports of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by security forces of detainees, some amounting to torture. Tactics included electric shocks, long periods of suspending detainees by their wrists, suffocation with gas and threats of killings. There were also sexual violence threats against detainees or their families. 　

&#8220I call on all parties to work towards a solution to the rapidly worsening tensions in the country, to renounce the use of violence and to take steps towards meaningful political dialogue,&#8221 concluded Mr. Zeid.　

8 August 2017 – Even as schools and markets begin to re-open in war-torn eastern Mosul, whole neighbourhoods of the western part of the Iraqi city have been destroyed and nearly a quarter of a million people have nowhere to return &#8220anytime soon,&#8221 a senior United Nations official said today.

Speaking to the press in Geneva, Lise Grande, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, said the contrast between the east and the west of the city could not be clearer. Indeed: &#8220Everyone’s gone home to eastern Mosul except for 20,000 people.&#8221

&#8220Mosul’s really a tale of two cities. Eastern Mosul is a city that’s recovering, people are home, schools are open, businesses are open, markets are open. Conditions aren’t great but it’s a city on the mend,&#8221 she said.

Yet, the situation is very different in western Mosul, explained Ms. Grande, who is also the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). &#8220In the 15 completely destroyed neighbourhoods, there are 230,000 civilians who come from those districts who are not coming home anytime soon.&#8221

Overall, she said that Mosul, which had been the site of the single largest urban battle since World War II, had also witnessed the largest managed evacuation in modern history, with nearly one million civilians assisted out of the city. &#8220Very exceptionally, humanitarian agencies were not near the front line, they were on the front line,&#8221 she stated.

In all, some 3.3 million people across Iraq remain outside their homes, including those recently displaced from Mosul. In the wake of the Iraqi campaign to oust the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) from Mosul, she said that there are three more military operations that are expected: in Tal Afar; in Hawija; and in the Euphrates Valley, western Anbar Province.

We think that by the end of those military operations several hundred thousand more civilians are likely to be displaced. [As such] when the military campaign in Iraq is over, we are possibly looking at 3.5 million civilians who will need to go home.&#8221

8 August 2017 – Rapid responses are critical to stemming a cholera outbreak that has afflicted South Sudan for more than a year, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation that has left approximately four million people displaced by conflict, according to the UN migration agency.

&#8220In a country with mass displacement and severe levels of food insecurity, the effect of the continued cholera outbreak on the health of vulnerable populations is acute,&#8221 explained Dr. Beldina Gikundi, Migration Health Emergency Officer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in South Sudan.

Since 18 June 2016, over 18,000 cholera cases &#8211 including 328 deaths &#8211 have been reported in South Sudan. IOM health and water, sanitation and hygiene teams continue to respond to the outbreak through case management and preventive measures across the country.

Disease outbreaks are particularly dangerous for displaced and vulnerable populations, such as children under five years of age, who account for more than one-in-five cholera cases reported in 2017.

IOM pointed out that many locations experiencing outbreaks are in proximity to the Nile River, increasing the rainy season’s impact on the cholera outbreak and threat of spreading further.

&#8220As we saw the outbreak continue, even during the dry season in 2017, we expect to see the trend persist throughout the rainy season, which leaves as much as 60 per cent of the country inaccessible by road,&#8221 continued Dr. Gikundi, underscoring that &#8220sustained and flexible responses are crucial to stemming the continued transmission of the disease in this extremely challenging context.&#8221

Saving lives on the ground

Children fetch water from a repaired borehole in Bentiu town. File photo: Ashley McLaughlin / UN Migration Agency (IOM) 2017

IOM conducts WASH activies in Kapoeta, South Sudan. File photo: UN Migration Agency 2017

A woman carries clean water at the Wau protection of civilians site in South Sudan. File photo: Ashley McLaughlin / UN Migration Agency (IOM) 2017

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Since the outbreak began, IOM teams have been deployed to cholera-affected areas across the country. Teams continue to conduct hygiene promotion, core relief item distribution and borehole repairs in Bentiu and Rubkona towns, and Wau town and surrounding areas, as well as in UN protection of civilian sites across the country.

In collaboration with the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health, IOM health teams are conducting oral cholera vaccination (OCV) campaigns across the country.

In an effort to reduce cholera cases in outbreak areas, IOM has recently reached more than 39,900 people in parts of Jonglei and Unity and is currently on the ground in Warrap, preparing to lead an upcoming OCV campaign targeting more than 189,000 people in Tonj East County.

Since the beginning of the 2016 outbreak, IOM has managed the USAID Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance Rapid Response Fund (RFF) in deploying 14 missions to respond to and promote the prevention of cholera cases. Seven RRF partners are currently on the ground in three states, providing health and water and sanitation assistance to cholera-affected communities.

8 August 2017 – Concerned that recent developments in Venezuela could lead to further escalation of tensions and hamper a peaceful solution to the crisis, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres again today urged the Government and the opposition to relaunch negotiations for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.

A statement from Mr. Guterres’ spokesman said the UN chief is closely following events in the country and is convinced the crisis cannot be solved through the imposition of unilateral measures, but requires a political solution based on dialogue and compromise.

&#8220At this critical time,&#8221 the Secretary-General urged the Venezuelan Government and the opposition to relaunch negotiations for the benefit of the country’s people, said the statement, adding that Mr. Guterres is strongly supporting the ongoing efforts of the international facilitators and regional actors who are seeking to contribute to this end.

The Secretary-General and other top UN officials have been calling for calm amid the escalating political and economic crisis in Venezuela when mass street demonstrations began in the country in April.

In the months that followed, clashes erupted between security forces and protestors opposing elections for the so-called Constituent Assembly. According to media reports, President Nicolás Maduro has since declared victory in elections for a Constituent Assembly convened by him. The new body could replace the current legislative body, the National Assembly.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, today warned that since the wave of demonstrations began in April, there has been a clear pattern of excessive force used against protesters.

&#8220Several thousand people have been arbitrarily detained, many reportedly subjected to ill-treatment and even torture, while several hundred have been brought before military rather than civilian courts. And these patterns show no signs of abating,&#8221 said the High Commissioner in a statement from his spokesperson.

Responsibility for violations lies at ‘highest levels of Government’ &#8211 UN human rights chief

In the absence of responses from the Venezuelan authorities to requests for access, the High Commissioner deployed a team of human rights officers to conduct remote monitoring of the situation in the country from 6 June to 31 July, including from Panama.

The team conducted some 135 interviews, including with victims and their families, witnesses, first responders and the Attorney-General’s Office &#8211 and also received written information from the Ombudsperson’s Office.

Witnesses told of security forces firing tear gas canisters at short range; buckshot marbles and nuts and bolts were also discharged as ammunition at anti-Government protestors without warning; and deadly force was used against demonstrators as well.

&#8220These violations have occurred amid the breakdown of the rule of law in Venezuela, with constant attacks by the Government against the National Assembly and the Attorney-General’s Office,&#8221 Mr. Zeid continued. &#8220The responsibility for the human rights violations we are recording lies at the highest levels of Government.&#8221　

The team’s findings also indicate patterns of other rights violations, including violent house raids, torture and ill-treatment of detainees in connection with protests.

Witness accounts suggest that the National Guard, National Police and local police forces have systematically used disproportionate force to instil fear, crush dissent and prevent demonstrators from assembling with rare condemnation from Government authorities.　

Without official data, estimates suggest that more than 5,051 people have been arbitrarily detained between 1 April and 31 July, when mass demonstrations, began with some 1,000 reportedly still detained.

Several cases reviewed by the UN rights office revealed credible reports of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by security forces of detainees, some amounting to torture. Tactics included electric shocks, long periods of suspending detainees by their wrists, suffocation with gas and threats of killings. There were also sexual violence threats against detainees or their families. 　

&#8220I call on all parties to work towards a solution to the rapidly worsening tensions in the country, to renounce the use of violence and to take steps towards meaningful political dialogue,&#8221 concluded Mr. Zeid.