Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM)

people living on $1 per day, but the indigenous groups
within their borders will not. 182 Because indigenous
peoples do not make up a large percentage of the
total population of many countries, the levels of
various development indicators achieved by these
countries are hardly affected by worse statistics for
indigenous communities. That should not be taken
to mean, however, that the economic development
of indigenous communities should not be a priority
for national governments. Many policies aimed at
reducing poverty and hunger to the targets set in the
first MDG do not reach indigenous peoples and do
not take their specific needs and circumstances into
account. 183 Any plan to achieve true success with the
Millennium Development Goals will have to include
special policies designed specifically for indigenous
peoples.
the importance of targeting indigenous peoples for
achieving the MDGs becomes evident by examining the
progress of nations and their indigenous populations
toward various MDG targets. Two types of countries
emerge through this analysis. The first are countries
that are on track to achieve certain MDG targets but
have indigenous minorities that will not reach the
same level of improvement. Minorities in Vietnam,
for example, have poverty rates 40% higher than
the majority ethnic population. Mexico, a member
of the Organisation for economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), is likely to reach almost all
of the MDG targets, but the region of Metlatonoc,
which is 98% indigenous, has development indices
comparable to Malawi and Angola, two of the most
underdeveloped countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. 184
the second category of countries are those that are
not going to reach some of the MDG targets because
of their indigenous minority groups, including many
African nations like Cameroon, Mali, and Senegal.
In Niger, for example, 29% of children experienced
nutrition deprivation in 2006, a figure that was
elevated due to the 33% and 30% rates among the Peul
and tuareg minority populations. 185 these statistics
make it clear that more must be done to specifically
target indigenous peoples in order to achieve the
MdGs for all segments of the population.
Many people working toward improving the
situation for indigenous peoples believe that the
framework of the MDGs needs to be altered if we
hope to achieve the MDG targets among indigenous
populations. Firstly, the MDGs do not explain the
need to address indigenous groups differently.
Because of this, national development policies do
not take indigenous groups into account. A survey of
MDG reports from various nations shows that 68% of
countries’ plans do not respond to the special needs
of indigenous peoples, and many do not even mention
the existence of indigenous peoples at all; additionally,
when indigenous populations are mentioned in these
reports, it is almost exclusive in the sections about
the second MDG, which concern universal primary
education. 186,187 As shown above, general statistics
on MDG progress make the condition of indigenous
peoples invisible. Secondly, the desire to achieve
the MdG targets has encouraged some countries to
take actions that harm their indigenous populations,
like increased mining efforts in the Philippines and
seizing of pastoral lands for agriculture in Kenya. 188
thirdly, the MdGs are not framed in a human rightsbased
way, meaning that they do not take into
consideration the fact that a population cannot make
significant developmental progress if they do not
have basic human rights. It is impossible to talk about
reducing hunger, for example, without first ensuring
that everyone has secured his or her right to food. 189
Finally, the MDGs are enumerated as development
targets and do not take account for the structural
causes of poverty, including discrimination and a lack
of indigenous civic involvement as discussed above. 190
Reflecting on the way that the MDGs have been
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