Hello Folks!
In today’s blog we will be talking about the World Tribal Day or International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples. This day is celebrated every year on 9th August. The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is also observed to honour indigenous peoples’ contributions and achievements, as well as to raise awareness of the challenges they confront in their existence.
Why 9 August?
The day marks the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) on the promotion and protection of human rights in 1982 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The first International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples was marked by the UN General Assembly on 9th August, 1995.
Theme of 2021
‘Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract’ for this year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
Social contract is defined as an unwritten agreement that societies make to cooperate for social and economic benefits. The UN seeks to encourage societies to treat indigenous communities as stakeholders since they were not included in the initial social contract, which was formulated by dominant communities
Events of 2021 World Tribal Day
The 2021 commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples will feature an interactive discussion with two speakers’ on the distinct elements to be considered when building and redesigning a new social contract that is inclusive of indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples’ own forms of governance and ways of life must be respected and based on their free, prior and informed consent and genuine and inclusive participation and partnership.
Facts about Indigenous People
Indigenous peoples are the inheritors and practitioners of distinct cultures and methods of interacting with others and the environment. They have kept distinct social, cultural, economic, and political traits from the dominant societies in which they live.
According to the United Nations, around 476 million indigenous people live in more than 90 countries accounting for 6.2% of the global population. They also account for around 15% of the poorest economy in the world.
Indigenous Peoples’ life expectancy is upto 20 years lower than the life expectancy of non-indigenous people worldwide.
Significance
Safeguarding Biodiversity – Despite owning, occupying, or using a quarter of the world’s surface area, Indigenous Peoples protect 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity. They have invaluable ancestral information and skills on how to adapt to, mitigate, and lessen the dangers of climate change and disasters.
Contribution to Zero Hunger Goal – Indigenous people’s crops are extremely adaptive. They can withstand drought, altitude, flooding, and temperature fluctuations of any kind. As a result, these crops aid in the development of resilient farms.
Quinoa, moringa, and oca are examples of native crops that have the potential to broaden and diversify our food supply. These would help to achieve the objective of achieving Zero Hunger.
Preserving Culture – With 370-500 million indigenous peoples, they account for the majority of the world’s cultural variety and speak the majority of the worlds over 7000 languages. They represent 5000 different cultures.
Tribes in India
According to the 2011 census, tribals make up about 8.6% of India’s overall population.
In India, there are around 700 tribal communities and 75 Particularly Vulnerable Target Groups (PVTGs). The Gonds are India’s largest tribal group.
Odisha has the most tribal communities (62) of any state.
The central tribal belt of India, which includes the Northeastern states of the country (from Rajasthan to West Bengal), has the highest number of indigenous people. Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Puducherry have no notified tribes.
Global Efforts
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) – It establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.
Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – The Expert Mechanism provides the Human Rights Council with expertise and advice on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It assists Member States in achieving the goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) – Its mission is to address indigenous concerns like economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health, and human rights. It is a UN Economic and Social Council advisory group.
Initiatives by India
TRIFED – TRIFED aims to empower tribal people with knowledge, tools and pool of information so that they can undertake their operations in a more systematic and scientific manner.
Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana – It is a market-linked tribal entrepreneurship development program for forming clusters of tribal Self Help Groups (SHGs) and strengthening them into Tribal Producer Companies.
Digital Transformation of Tribal Schools – Microsoft has chosen 250 EMRS schools in the first phase, with 50 EMRS schools receiving intense training and 500 master trainers being trained.
Capacity Building Initiative – It aims at empowering tribal Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) representatives and focuses on constitutional and legal provisions to protect the rights of tribal population.
Constitutional Provisions
- 5th and 6th Schedule – Administration and control of Scheduled and Tribal Areas.
- Article 342(1) – Specification of tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within tribes or tribal communities as Scheduled Tribe in relation to that State or Union Territory.
- Article 15 – Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth only.
- Article 16 – Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
- Article 46– Promotion of educational and economic interests of scheduled castes, Scheduled tribes, and other weaker sections,
- Article 335- Claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to services and posts.
- Article 338A – Setting up of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
Some Committees Related to Tribal Communities
- Xaxa Committee (2013) was set up to improve the socio-economic, health and educational status of the tribal communities in India.
- Bhuria Commission (2002-2004) was tasked with investigating and reporting on the problems of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in India, formulating a comprehensive tribal policy and outlining a vision for the future of STs.
- Lokur Committee (1965) was tasked with advising the government on proposals by the states and union territories (UTs) to revise existing Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) lists in a “rational and scientific manner.”
With this we come to the end of this blog. We discussed all the major points related to World Tribal Day and its importance.
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