Indigenous vulnerability and the process towards the millennium development goals-will a human rights-based approach help?

International Journal on Minority and Group Rights

Volumn 14, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 489-539

  Damman, Siri ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OSLO   (Norway)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY; HUMAN RIGHTS; INDIGENOUS POPULATION; UNITED NATIONS; VULNERABILITY;

EID: 39049091443     PISSN: 13854879     EISSN: 15718115     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/138548707X247400     Document Type: Article

References (162)

1. See R. Stavenhagen, The Ethnic Question: Conflicts, Development, and Human Rights (The United Nations University, United Nations University Press, Tokyo, 1990),
2. and The Indigenous World 2004-05 (International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs, Copenhagen, 2005).
3. See G. Hall and H. A. Patrinos, Indigenous Peoples, Poverty and Human Development in Latin America: 1994-2004 (World Bank, 2005);
4. R. Stavenhagen, Human Rights and Indigenous Issues Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People, 2001/65, E/CN.4/2003/90;
5. R. Stavenhagen, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental. Freedoms of Indigenous People, A/60/3581, 2005;
6. R. Stavenhagen, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People, A/HRC/4/32, 2007.
7. A. Eide, 'The International Human Rights System', in A. Eide et al (eds.), Food as a Human Right (UN University, Tokyo, 1984).
8. 'Disaggregated' implies broken down, differentiated or stratified by relevant population characteristics.
9. The author has lived in and visited indigenous communities in some Latin American countries, including Guatemala, Peru and Argentina. Some observations with regard to poverty are this author's, but were not collected specifically for the purpose of this paper.
10. United Nations Development Group, NationalMDG Reports, 2007, 〈www.undg.org/index.cfm?P=87&f=V〉, visited on 10 September 2007.
11. United Nations Development Group, led by the United Nations Population Fund; United Nations Development Programme; Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Statistics Division, Indicators for Monitoring the MDGs: Definitions, Rationale, Concepts and Sources, ST/ESA/STAT/SER.F795, 〈www.unstats. un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Attach/Indicators/HandbookEnglish.pdf〉, visited on 14 June 2007.
12. Population and Housing Censuses, Census Questionnaires Used Between 1995 and 2004, at United Nation Statistics Division website on census questionnaires, 〈unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sources/census/ censusquest.htm.〉, visited on 26 July 2007.
13. Such information allows countries to disaggregate poverty data by these characteristics.
14. The goals are the following: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (Goal 1); to achieve universal primary education (Goal 2); to promote gender equality and empower women (Goal 3); to reduce child mortality (Goal 4); to improve maternal health (Goal 5); to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (Goal 6); to ensure environmental sustainability (Goal 7); to develop a global partnership for development (Goal 8). From these goals are derived 18 quantitative and time-bound targets and 48 indicators. The targets should be achieved before 2015, using 1990 as the point of reference.
15. The UN Programme for Reform was an internal reform programme including the whole institution, and launched by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997.
16. Report of the Secretary-General, Renewing the United Nations-A Program for Reform, A/51/959.
17. UN General Assembly, United Nations Millennium Declaration. Fifty-fifth Session Agenda Item 60 (b), A/RES/55/2.
18. UN General Assembly, Report of the UN Secretary-General: Road Map Towards the Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, A/56/326.
19. Millennium Project Report 2005, The Millennium Project website, 〈www.unmillenniumproject.org/〉, visited 26 July 2007.
20. United Nations Development Group, supra note 7.
21. Ibid.
22. See World Bank, Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger, 2004, 〈ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&goalId=5&menuId= LNAV01GOAL1〉, visited 15 August 2007;
23. J. Sachs, Report to the UN Secretary-General: Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals, United Nations Millennium Project, New York, 2005;
24. United Nations Development Group, supra note 6.
25. First of all, the target lacks ambition by backdating the reference year to 1990. This means that the target was already partly reached at the change of the century due to the remarkable poverty reduction taking place in the 1990s in the two populous countries China and India. Furthermore, at the WFS world leaders pledged to reduce the number of hungry (using FAO's 'undernourishment' indicator (MDG indicator no. 5)) from just over 800 million to just over 400 million by 2015. The MDG target implies halving the proportion (per cent) that is extremely poor and hungry in the developing world by 2015 from the 1990 situation. While the number of poor and hungry may actually grow, the proportion is likely to be less in 2015 due to population growth also among non-poor. In short, according to Thomas Pogge, under MDG-1 we are looking at the modest aspiration of reducing the number of extremely poor from 1094 million in 1990 to 884 million in 2015.
26. See further in T Pogge, 'The First UN Millennium Development Goal: A Cause for Celebration?', in A. Follesdal and T. Pogge (eds.), Real World Justice. Grounds, Principles, Human Rights and Social Institutions, Studies in GlobalJustice (Springer, The Netherlands, 2005).
27. P Alston, 'Ships Passing in the Night: The Current State of the Human Rights and Development Debate Seen Through the Lens of the Millennium Development Goals', 27 Human Rights Quarterly (2005) pp. 755-829.
28. Ibid.
29. See also G. McGovern, The Third Freedom. Ending Hunger in Our Time (Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001) p. 12.
30. Alston, supra note 20, p. 797.
31. Ibid.
32. Homepage of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII),
33. A. Eide, 'Rights of Indigenous People-Achievements in International Law During the Last Quarter Century", Netherlands Yearbook of International Law (Forthcoming in 2007).
34. The UNPFII was established by Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) decision 2000/22, and endorsed by the General Assembly in 2000. It is an advisory body to the ECOSOC with a mandate to provide expert advice and recommendations on indigenous issues to the Council as well as to programmes, funds and agencies of the United Nations.
35. See UNPFII, Report on the Third Session 10-21 May 2004, Economic and Social Council Official Records (ESCOR), Supplement No. 23, E/2004/43, E/C. 19/2004.23;
36. UNPFII, Report on the Fourth Session 16-27May 2005, ESCOR, Supplement No. 23, E/2005/43, E/C.19/2005.9;
37. UNPFII, Report on the Sixth Session 14-25 May 2007, ESCOR, Supplement No. 23, E/2007/43, E/C. 19/2007.12.
38. UNPFII, Report on the Fourth Session, ibid.
39. UNPFII, Report on the Fifth Session 15-26May 2006, ESCOR, Supplement No. 23, E/2006743, E/C.19/2006.11.
40. UNPFII, Report on the Fourth Session, supra note 27.
41. See Meeting Report Submitted by the Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Autonomy and Development, Latin American and Caribbean Regional Expert Group Meeting on Indicators of Wellbeing and Indigenous Peoples, Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas North Atlantic Autonomous Region, Nicaragua, 2-4 September 2006,
42. and UNPFII, Report on the Third Session, Report on the Fourth Session, both at supra note 27.
43. This MDG list of indicators is not intended to be prescriptive for the national context. The country setting and the views of various stakeholders in preparing country-level reports should be taken into account. See United Nations Development Group, supra note 7.
44. Sachs, supra note 18, p. 27.
45. This indicator is defined by the WHO as the percentage of children aged 0-59 months who fall below minus two standard deviations from the median weight for age of the National Center for Health. Statistics (NCHS)/WHO standard reference population. See United. Nations Development Group, supra note 7.
46. The FAO measurement of the prevalence of undernourishment takes into account the amount of food available per person nationally (derived from food balance sheets) and the extent of inequality in access to food. See ibid.
47. There tend to be several poverty lines per country: a poverty line and an extreme poverty line, and also urban and rural poverty lines. The cut-off points differ between urban and rural areas due to differences in cost levels. The poverty lines are updated regularly, which means that the cut-off-points vary over time. See ibid
48. Alston, supra note 20.
49. United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN), Third Report on the World Nutrition Situation, Geneva, 1997.
50. FAO, Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Summit Plan of Action, Rome, 13-17 November 1996.
51. CESCR, General Comment 12: The Right to Adequate Food, E/C.12/1999/5.
52. FAO, Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realisation of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security: "The Right to Food Guidelines", Rome, 2004.
53. See CESCR, supra note 40, para. 8.
54. People's (meaning individuals) must not be confused with peoples', which applies to collective groups such as indigenous peoples.
55. See CESCR, supra note 40.
56. Stavenhagen 2003, supra note 2.
57. United Nations Development Group, supra note 6.
58. Hall, supra note 2.
59. Stavenhagen 2005 and 2007, supra note 2.
60. The Commission considers petitions from individuals who claim that the state has violated a protected right and that they have been unable to find justice, and brings together the petitioner and the state to explore a 'friendly setdement?. If such an outcome is not possible, or if a state does not follow the Commission's recommendations, the Commission has the option to publish its report or take the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as long as the state involved has accepted the Court's compulsory jurisdiction. See OAS, Key OAS Issues: Protecting Human Rights, 2007, 〈www.oas.org/ key%5Fissues/eng/KeyIssue_Detail.asp?kis_sec=2〉, visited 6 June 2007.
61. Stavenhagen 2005, supra note 2.
62. Ibid.
63. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, United Nations Principles and Recommendations for a Vital. Statistics System Revision 2, ST/ESA/STAT/SERM/19/Rev2, 〈unsta.ts.un.org/unsd/publication/SeriesM/ SeriesM_19rev2E.pdf〉, visited 2 June 2007.
64. State parties to the various human rights treaties (covenants and conventions) have obligated themselves to report on their progresses to the human rights committees (also called human rights treaty bodies) that overlook treaty implementation.
65. Program of Action of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, 31 August-8 September 2001, GE.01-15814 (E) 291001, paras. 92-102.
66. Stavenhagen 2005, supra note 2.
67. UN General Assembly, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 7 September 2007, A/61/L.67.
68. UNPFII, Report on the Sixth Session, supra note 27.
69. See Statement of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues Regarding Indigenous Peoples and the Millennium Development Goals 30 September and I October 2004, 〈www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/iasg. html#statement〉, visited on 18 July 2007,
70. and UNPFII, supra note 29.
71. Statement of the Inter-Agency Support Group, ibid.
72. UNPFII, Report on the Fourth Session, supra note 27.
73. See also supra note 31.
74. United Nations Development Group, supra note 7.
75. Possible to disaggregate, for focusing on social groups, minorities and individuals; Policy relevant. giving messages on issues that can be influenced, directly or indirectly, by policy action; Reliable. enabling different people to use them and get consistent results; Valid: based on identifiable criteria that measure what they are intended to measure; Consistently measurable over time: necessary if they are to show whether progress is being made and targets are being achieved.
76. See Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Frequently Asked Questions on a Human Rights-based Approach to Development Cooperation, New York and Geneva, 2006, 〈www.ohchr.org/english/about/ publications/docs/FAQ_en.pdf〉, visited 26 August 2007.
77. Instituto Nacional de Esdadistica y Censos (INDEC), Argentina, Censo Nacional de Población, Hogares y Viviendas del año 2001, 〈www.indec.mecon.gov.ar〉, visited on 14 June 2007.
78. United Nations Development Group, supra note 6.
79. United Nations Development Group, supra note 7.
80. See Working Group on Minorities, The Millennium Development Goals: Helping or Harming Minorities?, working paper submitted, to the Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Promoting and Protecting of Human Rights, Fifty-fifth Session, Eleventh session, 31 May-3 June 200, 5, and Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica, Colombia, Estratificación, 〈www.dane.gov.co〉, visited on 14 June 2007.
81. Hall and Patrinos, supra note 2.
82. All human rights instruments are found, at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights website, 〈www.ohchr.org/english/law/index. htm〉.
83. Article 26 of the ICCPR is also relevant as it is on equality and non-discrimination before the law.
84. Belize has signed but not ratified the ICESCR, and not signed the Protocol of San Salvador.
85. The obligation of the state to combat malnutrition is mentioned in Article 24 of the CRC.
86. UN General Assembly, supra note 56.
87. The UDHR states in Article 2 that "[e]veryone is entitled, to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind", and in Article 28 that "[e]veryone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized".
88. Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, UN Doc. A/Conf 157/23.
89. The CCA is a country-based process undertaken by UN agencies in cooperation with government and key partners.
90. The Human Rights Based Approach to Development Cooperation. Towards a Common Understanding Among UN Agencies, 2003, 〈www.crin.org/hrbap/ index.asp?action=theme.docitem&item=4689〉, visited 21 July 2007.
91. Universality and inalienability: Human rights are universal and inalienable, meaning that everyone is entided to them, and no one can voluntarily give them up. Nor can others take them away; Indivisibility. Human rights are indivisible. Whether civil, cultural, economic, political or social, they are all inherent to the dignity of the human person. They have equal status as rights, and cannot be ranked, a priori, in a hierarchical order; Inter-dependence and Inter-relatedness: The realization of one right often depends, wholly or in part, upon the realization of others. For instance, realization of the right to health may depend, in certain circumstances, on realization of the right to education or of the right to information.
92. Equality and Non-discrimination: AU human beings are entitled to their human rights without discrimination of any kind. The term equality is used primarily in regard to the legal system.
93. Participation and Inclusion: Every person and all peoples are entitled to active, free and meaningful participation in/ contribution to the enjoyment of civil, economic, social, cultural and political development in which human rights and fundamental freedoms can be realized.
94. Accountability and Rule of Law. States and other duty bearers are answerable for the observance of human rights, and have to comply with legal norms and standards enshrined in human rights instruments. Where they fail to do so, rights holders are entitled to appropriate redress in accordance with the rides and procedures provided by law.
95. The Human Rights Based Approach to Development Cooperation, supra note 76.
96. Other elements of good programming practices (essential but not unique to a HRBA) include that people are recognized, as key actors in their own development; that the development processes are locally owned and include strategies which empower; that programmes support accountability to all stakeholders; that analysis includes all stakeholders; and that programmes are focused on marginalized, disadvantaged and excluded groups and aim to reduce disparity. Both outcomes and processes are monitored and evaluated, based in measurable goals and targets.
97. M. Tomei, Indigenous and Tribal peoples: An Ethnic Audit of Selected Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (International Labour Office, International Labour Organization, Geneva, 2005), foreword.
98. Millennium Project Report 2005, supra note 15.
99. Alston, supra note 20.
100. Ibid.
101. United Nations Development Group, supra note 7.
102. Ibid.
103. Alston, supra note 20.
104. CESCR, Revised General Guidelines Regarding the Form and Contents of Reports to be Submitted by States Parties Under Articles 16 and 17 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 17 June 1991, E/C.12/1991/1.
105. UNDP, Evaluation Office, Millennium Development Goab Report: An Assessment, 〈www.undp.org/execbrd/pdf/MDGR_Final.pdf〉, visited on 14 June 2007.
106. Millennium Project Report 2005, supra note 15.
107. United Nations Development Program, supra note 7.
108. Ibid.
109. Alston, supra note 20.
110. Only countries recognized to have indigenous populations within their borders are included.
111. United Nations Development Program, supra note 6.
112. United Nations Development Program, supra note 7.
113. Ibid.
114. Hall and Patrinos, supra note 2.
115. The poverty ratio appears by dividing the percentage/proportion of poverty in the indigenous population by the percentage of poverty in the non-indigenous population (percent indigenous poverty/percent non-indigenous poverty). If the proportion of poverty were equal, the ratio would be 1.
116. Sachs, supra note 18.
117. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, supra note 62.
118. Stavenhagen 2003, supra note 2, p. 5.
119. Tomei, supra note 83, p. 42.
120. Background paper prepared by the Secretariat of the UNPFII Division for Social Policy and Development/UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN Workshop on Engaging of the Marginalized, International Conference on Engaging Communities, Partnerships Between Indigenous Peoples, Governments and Civil. Society Engaging Indigenous Peoples in Governance Process: International Legal and Policy Frameworks for Engagement, Briesbane, Australia, 2005.
121. "Although the rights protected under article 27 are individual rights, they depend in turn on the ability of the minority group to maintain its culture, language or religion. Accordingly, positive measures by States may also be necessary to protect the identity of a minority and the rights of its members to enjoy and develop their culture... in community with the other members of the group." See UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 23: The Rights of Minorities, 8 April 1994, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add. 5. Even if the right to culture is a universal right, minorities' right to culture is separate from, and adds an additional dimension to, their individual rights.
122. Ibid., para. 7.
123. See Eide, supra note 3,
124. and A. Eide, Right to Adequate Food as a Human Right, Study Series 1 (United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Geneva, and New York, 1989).
125. Eide, Right to Adequate Food, ibid
126. See ibid;
127. Eide, supra note 3;
128. A. Oshaug et al., 'Human Rights: A Normative Basis for Food and Nutrition-Relevant Policies', 19:6 Food Policy (1994) pp. 491-516 ;
129. M. Sepúlveda, 'The Nature of the Obligations Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights', 18 School of Human Rights Research Series.
130. UNPFII, Report on the Sixth Session, supra note 27.
131. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, coordinated by J. L. Machinea, A. Barcena and A. León, United Nations, The Millennium Development Goab. A Latin American and Caribbean Perspective.
132. Ibid
133. S. Damman, 'Nutritional Vulnerability in Indigenous Children of the Americas-A Human Rights Issue', in R. Eversole et al. (eds.), Indigenous Peoples and Poverty An International Perspective, CROP International Studies in Poverty Research Series {Zed Books, London, 2005).
134. Hall and Patrinos, supra note 2; G. Psacharopoulis and H. A. Patrinos, Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America, An Empirical Analysis (World Bank Regional and Sectorial Studies, Washington, D.C., 1994).
135. J. Renshaw and N. Wrey, Indicadores de pobreza indígena. Borrador preliminary (Banco Interamericano de desarrollo, Washington, D.C., 2004).
136. CESCR, General Comment No. 4: The Right to Adequate Housing, 13 December 91.
137. See Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, supra note 113,
138. and Renshaw, supra note 117.
139. Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica, supra note 67.
140. Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination, Social Statistics: Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development. Report of the Expert Group on the Statistical Implications of Recent Major United Nations Conferences, E/CN.3/AC.1/1996/R.4, 24 January 1996, para. 78, 〈unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/socind/xgrp2.htm〉, last visited 19 September 2007.
141. Eide, supra note 25.
142. CESCR, supra note 40.
143. FAO, supra note 41.
144. Workshops have been held in Latin America, Asia and Africa. These and the 2007 meeting of the UNPFII are likely to make important contributions to the conceptual development of such indicators. Suggestions from a meeting in Latin America evolve around collective indicators related to land, territory and natural resources, cultural heritage, forms of social organization, identity, self-determination, models of autonomy and self-government. The indicators were of three categories: structural (normative, juridical, institutional, etc. frameworks), process (the type, quality, quantity, etc. of relevant policies or official and traditional institutions) and result indicators (the measurable negative or positive results, for instance, the existence or non-existence of certain traditional practices, financial resources, culturally relevant statistics, mechanisms of participation, etc.). See Meeting Report Submitted by the Centre, supra note 31.
145. See Statement of the Inter-Agency Support Group, supra note 58.
146. Ibid.
147. Some indicators may be universal, while others may capture characteristics of relevance to all or most indigenous peoples or communities, like legal protection, policies towards them, degree of participation, land, access, carrying capacity of the land, etc. A third, set of indicators may remain local and contextual.
148. Supra note 24.
149. UNPFII, Report on the Sixth Session, supra note 27.
150. Stavenhagen 2005, supra note 2.
151. United Nations Development Group, supra note 6.
152. UNPFII, Report on the Fourth Session, supra note 27, p. 4.
153. M. Nowak, A Human Rights Approach to Poverty', in M. Scheinin and M. Suksi (eds.), Human Rights in Development Yearbook 2002 (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Nordic Human Rights Publications, 2005).
154. Stavenhagen, supra note 1.
155. Ibid
156. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, supra note 62.
157. OAS, supra note 49.
158. Tomei, supra note 83.
159. United Nations Development Fund, Human Rights and Human Development. Human Development Report 2000 (Oxford University Press, New York, 2000).
160. United, Nations Development Fund, Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World. Human Development Report 2004 (Oxford University Press, New York, 2004).
161. Sachs, supra note 18.
162. Tomei, supra note 83.