Today is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, and this year’s theme – “Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Education” – is a sentiment that Whitireia wholeheartedly supports.
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The Secretariat of TREATY OF IOUANALAO for Economic, Social and Cultural Integration among the Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala reiterates that its institutional projects are created to promote understanding and respect for traditional methods of teaching and learning, quality education, intercultural education and human rights education to all Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala, ‘aimed at integrating the educational systems of the family of Indigenous Peoples of the Association of Caribbean States, in particular. There are 42 million indigenous people in Latin America, making up almost 8 percent of the region’s total population in 2010, per a report by the World Bank.
The EU is also stepping up its engagement with indigenous peoples, in line with the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy. This means we strive to ensure students see their Māori identity as an asset, and that by the time they graduate this identity has been nurtured and developed to the extent that they can stand tall and proud as Māori.
These decades were established with the goal of strengthening worldwide cooperation for solving problems faced by indigenous peoples in areas such as human rights, the environment, development, education and health, economic and social development.
The right of indigenous peoples to education is also protected by a number of other global human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
According to United Nations sources there are an estimated 370 million indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries. The EU congratulates the OAS and its Member states, as well as the indigenous peoples of the Americas, on this achievement.
The High Representative also announced that the European Union was stepping up its efforts to protect human rights defenders working for the “most vulnerable and marginalized”, including indigenous peoples, and those campaigning on land rights issues.
In spite of several instruments, the right to education has not been fully realized for most indigenous peoples, and a critical education gap exists between indigenous peoples and the general population.
Meanwhile, the European Union and UNICEF have agreed to broaden a partnership that aims to protect children from violence and better include children with disabilities into society.
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Johannes Hahn, European neighbourhood policy and enlargement negotiations Commissioner, said: “We believe that this partnership can make a real difference to the life of children in the region”. This year the day is devoted to the right to education.
