Part I The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Background, content and implementation Chapter 1: Background to the Declaration KEY QUESTIONS • What are indigenous peoples’ human rights issues? • How have indigenous peoples historically been treated by the international community? • What developments have changed this historical treatment? What are the international developments concerning indigenous peoples? • What United Nations mechanisms address the rights of indigenous peoples? • Who are the world’s indigenous peoples? • What are the relevant characteristics of indigenous identity? • What does the primacy of self-identification mean? 1. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Indigenous peoples are recognized as being among the world’s most vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalized peoples. Spread across the world from the Artic to the South Pacific, they number, at a rough estimate, more than 370 million in some 90 countries. While they constitute approximately five per cent of the world’s population, indigenous peoples make up 15 per cent of the world’s poor and one-third of the world’s extremely poor.10 Indigenous peoples each have unique and distinctive cultures, languages, legal systems and histories. Most indigenous peoples have a strong connection to the environment and their traditional lands and territories. They also often share legacies of removal from traditional lands and territories, subjugation, destruction of their cultures, discrimination and widespread violations of their human rights. Through centuries, they have suffered from the non-recognition of their own political and cultural institutions and the integrity of their cultures has been undermined. Indigenous peoples are also harmfully impacted by development processes, which pose a grave threat to their continued existence. In response to human rights violations, indigenous peoples and their organizations have lobbied domestically and internationally to have these violations addressed. After decades of obtaining little or no attention from the international community, indigenous peoples have increasingly gained visibility and made their voices heard at international forums. The International Labour Organization (ILO) was the first international organization to address indigenous and tribal issues and signal the need for cooperation and international attention. It has been working to protect and promote the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples since the early 1920s. ILO developed two international instruments relating exclusively to indigenous and tribal peoples: the Indigenous and 10 International Fund for Agricultural Development, Engagement with Indigenous Peoples Policy, 2009. Chapter 1: Background to the Declaration | 3