Declaration of the Philippine National Conference on the Effective Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Declaration of the August 9 World's Indigenous People Day Celebration in the Philippines, 10 August 2008.

We, 140 participants representing indigenous peoples communities, organizations and networks, NGOs, government agencies, UN bodies, agencies and programmes in the Philippines, gathered to celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, August 9. We also celebrate the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by 144 member-states of the UN General Assembly in 13 September 2007. This is a historic milestone for our struggles to get our rights respected and protected. In this conference we discussed ways for us to effectively implement the UNDRIP.

Message of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on the International Day of the World's Indigenous People, 09 August 2008

In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 9 August as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. There were many reasons for this decision, but the fundamental motivation was the Assembly’s recognition of the need to place the United Nations clearly and strongly behind the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples, in order to put an end to their marginalization, their extreme poverty, the expropriation of their traditional lands and the other grave human rights abuses they have faced and continue to encounter. Indeed, the suffering of indigenous peoples includes some of the darkest episodes in human history.