The hardships that indigenous peoples face exposes gaps in human rights rhetoric. Read around the subject with Think Africa Press.
Indigenous peoples are unique as a minority group. They possess a sovereignty that existed long before the formation of many states, occupy a space outside mainstream ideologies, and often face heavy discrimination.
Today offers the chance to celebrate their lives and acknowledge the dangers they face - threats that reveal as much about the indigenous peoples themselves as they do about modern politics and ideas of development.
And this year's UN-sponsored theme this year is particularly pertinent: "Honouring Treaties, Agreements and other Constructive Arrangements".
Within the UN, indigenous peoples have struggled for recognition and the chance to have enforceable human rights.
For almost 30 years, the only specialised international treaty - the ILO Convention 107 in 1957 - focused on assimilation, that is on eradicating rather than embracing their less common characteristics.
Since then, improvements have been underwhelming, and the most up-to-date international law - the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - is more of a guideline than an iron-clad treaty.
Indigenous peoples are common throughout Africa - from the Basarwa of Botswana to the Ogiek tribes of Kenya - and their stories often share the same tragic patterns.
Their use of land and ways of life clash with development agendas and commercial projects. They are often regularly forcibly evicted, referred to pejoratively, and targets of violence.
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But we must also take note of their resilience and their survival narratives. Read how the Ogiek are innovatively working in Kenya to preserve their way of life or the Basarwa have secured important legal victories against the government of Botswana.
Today, on World Indigenous Peoples Day, read some of the articles below to understand these issues in further detail:
Displacement and Resistance: The Ogiek of Kenya Chelsea Purvis
The Unique Rights of Indigenous Peoples Dinah Shelton
Ethiopia: DFID Fail to Act on Human Rights Violations Gordon Bennett
Evicted From Ancestral Lands: Botswana's Basarwa Minority Rom Bhandari
Rom Bhandari is Legal Editor at Think Africa Press. He holds an LLM from King's College, University of London.
His interests include human rights and migration. Follow him on twitter @romromromTAP. Email: rom.bhandari@thinkafricapress.com
