An Oral Statement to the 42nd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC)
Mr. Vice President.
The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) thanks the both mandates for their reports. We wish to emphasise on greater protection of the indigenous people in the countries of Asia and the world.
The ALRC fully agrees with the Special Rapporteur and wishes to highlight the obligations arising from the Goal 16 of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2030. Like the protection of every other human person and communities the indigenous people also need access to justice. The absence of effective legal mechanisms that can be resorted to undo the legal wrongs done to the indigenous people remain one of the major obstacles for realisation of their rights. The Goal 16 of SDG requires the availability of functional public institutions as essential conditions for achieving sustainable development to all, including indigenous people. The existing public institutional frameworks in almost all countries is aimed at the people living in the mainstream but there is hardly any kind of institutionalised protection by way of responsible public institutions to serve the interests of the indigenous people. The result is ruthless exploitation of lands and livelihoods of the indigenous people, and particularly inter-generational rights of their children.
The international discourse on the rights of the indigenous people should now be linked to the Goal 16 of the SDG 2030. If the rights of the indigenous people are further articulated in terms of Goal 16 of SDG a wide new horizon can develop in the discussion of international obligations for protection of these peoples.
There need to be practical programmes within the framework of Goal 16 of the SDG 2030.
Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
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