| Mikhail Pogodaev on the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples |
| Written by Philip Burgess |
| Tuesday, 26 May 2009 00:04 |
Why was attending the UNPFII important for the Association of World Reindeer Herders First of all, I would like that our organisation will continue to be represented in the UN Permanent Forum and I think that it is important that we continue to attend this process and develop good contact with other indigenous peoples and the many international organisations that are present here. Also, the Permanent Forum is an important site for reindeer herders as we can use it as a forum to address our claims and hopes to the national states where reindeer husbandry exists. Was this a Successful Meeting from the Point of View of WRH? I think it was very successful as we now have very good contact with people involved in the process of the UNPFII, we have learned more about this system as it relates to indigenous peoples rights and we have some points in the future that we can develop with international organisations in the UN system and other international organisations and agencies. I was also able to gift a copy of the book EALAT, Reindeer Herders Voice to the President of the UN General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto Brockmannafter his address to the UN Permanent Forum, where he stated unequivocally ""Our challenge now is to fully and effectively implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples".
Yes, well the book is of course a product of the Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group system and the book makes for a great gift to hand out to people as it makes is much easier to explain what the Association is about and our various activities. People we gifted the book to were very interested in reindeer husbandry and when they received the book they were willing to know more about it and perhaps cooperate with us in the future. WRH made a statement to the UNPFII, which is an achievement as nearly 50 organisations did not get to address the Forum. How was that possible? Yes, we were able to make a statement and this was a result of a good communication and cooperation with RAIPON. RAIPON is of course an internationally known indigenous people’s organisation and I think that we have many common points and issues that we work on and that we can find other areas to cooperate in. We have many of the same goals and together I think we can achieve more results. You focussed on connecting with members of the Russian delegation. Yes, we had a very good cooperation with all the members of the Russian delegation. There were people from different indigenous people’s organisations from Russia and we discussed many questions about reindeer husbandry in their regions. And also we had a very good meeting with several representatives of the Russian government, including people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and people from the Committee of Northern Affairs of the Federal Council. They are willing to support international cooperation for reindeer husbandry and proposed various projects that we can develop together. Are there any concrete outcomes from the 8th Session for WRH? There are 2 points – the firs t that we have made contact with the UNPFII and we and those we would like to apply for ECOSOC consultative status so that WRH can be an accredited organisation. Secondly, in our statement, which we hope to see in the recommendations to the UNPFII about loss of pastures and we hope that this will be adopted into the Declaration of the Permanent Forum, so that the recommendations will then be sent to the national states where the issue of pasture losses is critical for reindeer husbandry. Related Articles/Posts ICR Interview, Mikhail Pogodaev, Pogodaev, UN, UNPFII, WRH Activities |
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples (UNPFII) is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.
