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UN report paints grim picture of conditions of world’s indigenous peoples
14 January 2010 - The world’s 370 million indigenous peoples suffer from disproportionately, often exponentially, higher rates of poverty, health problems, crime and human rights abuses, the first ever United Nations study on the issue reported today, stressing that self-determination and land rights are vital for their survival.
On 23 December 1994, the General Assembly decided that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People shall be observed on 9 August every year during the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (resolution 49/214).
By its resolution 59/174 of 20 December 2004, in which the Assembly proclaimed the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (2005-2014), it also decided to continue observing the International Day of Indigenous People every year during the Second Decade, in New York, Geneva and other offices of the United Nations. The Assembly asked the Secretary-General to support observance of the Day from within existing resources, and to encourage Governments to observe the Day at the national level.
The Bureau of the Permanent Forum has chosen the artwork made by Rebang Dewan, a Chackma child from Bangladesh, 11 years old as the visual identifier of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. At the Second Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (held in 2003) where Indigenous Children was the special theme, the Forum adopted a series of recommendations on indigenous children and also decided to organize an indigenous youth art competition for the design of a logo for the Forum and announced it at the sixth session.
