Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM)

countries do not have what would traditionally be
considered indigenous peoples, and thus they see the
issue of indigenous impoverishment as another aspect
of human rights and international development.
they were among the foremost proponents of the
declaration on the Rights of indigenous Peoples
and have included indigenous peoples as a priority
group in some of their most important resolutions on
development, including the 2005 European Consensus
on Development. 206 The nations of Latin America also
have a history of supporting indigenous peoples
in international forums. Of the twenty-two states
to ratify the International Labour Organization’s
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, fifteen
were from Latin America. Despite the support that
these countries have given to indigenous rights issues,
many of them do not have such positive records on
actually implementing policies to aid indigenous
groups. As discussed above, Latin America has among
the highest poverty rates for indigenous peoples of
any region in the world, and little improvement in
the conditions that indigenous peoples face has been
seen in recent years.
Finally, the remaining countries, most of which are
in Africa and Asia, have mixed policies with regard to
indigenous development. Most of these countries
have marginalized populations that are traditionally
considered to be indigenous, even though these
countries do not have the same colonial histories as
North and South America and Australia and Oceania.
These countries are generally still developing and thus
are concerned more with overall economic growth
than assisting a small minority of the population,
which explains their historic policies on land and
trade liberalization. Often, these governments do
not have the resources to create special programs
for indigenous peoples and will need some assistance
to implement the plans that the committee drafts.
Some countries in Asia and Africa, however, do
not recognize the existence of their indigenous
populations in the first place. China, for example,
has been committed to strong economic growth
for its population, including for minority groups,
and has seen success in reducing poverty among its
minorities, but it denies that any of these groups are
indigenous. By denying the indigenous status of its
minorities, China has legitimized its use of resource
extraction and relocation as methods of reducing
poverty among its indigenous populations. 207
Suggestions for Further Research
There is a wealth of information about the
impoverishment of indigenous peoples on the
websites of various intergovernmental and nongovernmental
groups. The United Nations has a
number of different groups dedicated to indigenous
peoples, including the Permanent Forum on
indigenous issues and the expert Mechanism on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These organizations
have published countless reports on issues of
indigenous development and indigenous rights and
may be good places to start for general information
on indigenous peoples. The World Bank also has
extensive information about indigenous development
and poverty, including some country-specific reports.
The World Bank website is also a good resource
to learn about economic development in general.
Additionally, i would recommend doing some
research on the first MDG; you can find information
on the MDG section of the United Nations website or
on the website of the United Nations Development
Programme.
it is also important to do research on the indigenous
peoples that reside within the country that you are
representing and your country’s policy toward them.
Almost every country has some indigenous groups,
and each indigenous group has a different history
and current situation. Some indigenous populations
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