AIPP wants equitable representation of indigenous women in decision-making process

Statement by Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia

On the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8th March 2016, the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) joins hands with women and men across the globe in the spirit of solidarity in advancing gender equality and social justice for all.

 Women are the primary caregivers to children, elderly family members and the sick.

We also take this opportunity to acknowledge indigenous women’s invaluable contributions and roles in community welfare and development in all dimensions.

In most indigenous communities, it is the women who serve as primary caregivers to children, elderly family members and the sick. It is the women who are the holders and teachers of the traditional knowledge passed down through generations.

It is indigenous women who are the main food producers and managers of their natural resources and it is the women who have the knowledge to strengthen their community’s resilience to the devastating effects of climate change.

In Sarawak, Malaysia, Iban women are facing forced evictions at the hands of the Malaysia Agricultural Research and Development (MARDI).

The indigenous Iban women have lost their essential food sources and raw materials that are needed to sustain their traditional livelihoods. The  dispossession of their land is not only a deprivation of their right to land, but also the deprivation of their only familiar means of survival,

culturally and physically.

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On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2016, we call upon States, civil society and indigenous communities to implement the following recommendations, in order to ensure indigenous women’s rights to land and resources are recognised:

1. Secure full and effective participation, including equitable representation of indigenous women, in decision-making bodies and processes that affect their rights as indigenous peoples and as women.

2. Implement measures for the legal recognition and protection of the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, including indigenous women, over their lands territories and natural resources.

3. Recognize, protect and enhance the contributions and roles of indigenous women in natural resource management, as well as ensuring the equitable benefits and entitlements necessary to

their wellbeing.

4. Ensure effective grievance mechanisms that are accessible to indigenous women at the local and national levels, including resolution of all cases of Violence against Women and other human

rights violations.

5. Ensure the recognition and respect for rights to property of indigenous women, as well as equal rights to employment opportunities, benefits and culturally sensitive healthcare.

6. Wholly implement the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and take all measures available to improve the economic and social conditions of indigenous women.

7. Develop a participatory action plan to implement the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly Goal 5 on the empowerment of women and girls. - March 9, 2016