Advocacy
Today, according to the United Nations, approximately 400 million Indigenous Peoples live in more than 90 countries worldwide. The basis for a global Indigenous Peoples movement exists, but Indigenous communities currently have few linkages to the established system of world institutions. Invisible within the world system and inadequately funded, yet possessed of their traditional knowledge and an intransigent commitment to their land claims, Indigenous Peoples are poised to bridge across boundaries and take their place among global institutions.
The First Peoples Worldwide Advocacy Program builds bridges from traditional Indigenous knowledge to broader partnerships in global conservation and climate change mitigation. Through its Advocacy strategy, FPW works to seize this unprecedented moment, linking all levels of Indigenous leadership to the world system in hopes of helping to
instigate an effective global movement of Indigenous Peoples. First Peoples Worldwide links Indigenous communities directly to global forums, such as international policy-making councils, Non-Governmental Organizations, corporations, and governments. We are working to strengthen the voice of Indigenous Peoples by providing increased opportunities for exchange of ideas, best practices, and lessons learned. The establishment of strategic connections will provide Indigenous Peoples with opportunities to advocate for parity in global funding, while ensuring that future worldwide policy and programs find guidance in Indigenous representation and participation. First Peoples Worldwide's advocacy for Indigenous parity of funding and self-determination within the world system is based on direct field experience, rather than mere legal or economic theory.
Through participation in public forums, engagement in private discussions, and the transfer of research and information relevant to Indigenous Peoples, First Peoples hopes to gain a foothold on our major Advocacy goals:
- create a shift in international public opinion
- mobilize relevant groups to secure policy reform and systemic change for Indigenous Peoples
- shift the focus of Indigenous economic development from income maintenance to asset deployment
The Advocacy program brings together Indigenous communities with common goals under Indigenous leadership, and provides a networking vehicle to expand their outreach and their connections in the following ways:
- Dissemination from the communities to global institutions of critical information about successful models and practices, at the local and national levels, in fields such as self-governance, land defense, resource conservation management, and asset development
- Dissemination from global institutions to the communities of information and technical assistance regarding sources of financial assistance, and options for development strategy
- International advocacy of sound government policies that include Indigenous Peoples
- Linkages to global policy forums to achieve systemic reform and influence over the programs and agencies that directly influence Indigenous communities
- Promotion of greater public and private investment in the survival and asset-based development of Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous Peoples Climate Action Fund (IPCAF)
The Indigenous Peoples Climate Action Fund was presented on Nov. 18, 2009, at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., in a roundtable with the participation of Indigenous practitioners from around the world, climate change and economic development experts, and potential donors.
In recognizing that Indigenous Peoples bear a "disproportionate share of the burden of climate change effects," World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick also recognized the importance of traditional knowledge in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. He called on the world to recognize the importance of "including those most affected by climate change in climate change debates."
The goal of IPCAF is to bridge from Indigenous stewardship of their own lands to a broad Indigenous pervasion of the global blueprints for surviving climate change. Toward this end, IPCAF grants will build bridges across traditional boundaries by supporting Indigenous-managed conservation, as well as dialogue between Indigenous knowledge-keepers and academic, governmental, and private sector scientists.
"If we can gather a rich mix of leadership," comments First Peoples Worldwide President and Founder Rebecca Adamson, "we'll figure out how to mitigate climate change. We'll bridge the usual divides between on-the-ground Indigenous practices and the global perspectives of science."
The cultural identity of Indigenous Peoples is closely linked to the fragile ecosystems on the ground where they live: mountains, forests, deserts, coasts and tropical islands, Arctic and subarctic areas. Under changed climate conditions, Indigenous communities will not only be the most affected, but may also prove to be among the most resourceful in designing practical, action-oriented solutions for improved human resilience.
IPCAF is a small-grant fund that will enable Indigenous Peoples to use their traditional knowledge, not only to improve the resilience of their own communities facing global climate change, but also to contribute to the global search for solutions. IPCAF helps bring to bear, on the most pressing global issue of our time, the centuries of human experience stored in traditional Indigenous knowledge.
Why a climate change fund with an Indigenous focus?
- Climate change affects current strategies for Indigenous Peoples' poverty alleviation
- Climate change has a broad impact on Indigenous Peoples
- Limited inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in the global climate change dialogue
- Indigenous Peoples have limited access to direct funding mechanisms
IPCAF award-winning program design responds to the needs of practitioners and funding partners
IPCAF was designed as a joint effort between First Peoples Worldwide and the Social Development Department of the World Bank, and the IPCAF model was recently recognized in an essay competition sponsored by the Environmental Funders Network and Alliance Magazine (November/December 2009).
The program design allows for funding from different sources, such as private companies, foundations, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, and development banks to reach out directly and rapidly to practitioners in the field, reducing transaction cost and promoting quick learning and turnaround.
Its basic framework incorporated the principles of 28 international Indigenous Peoples' declarations on climate change, as well as numerous other local and regional Indigenous Peoples' declarations.
Inputs on the barriers to funding faced by Indigenous Peoples came from regional practitioner roundtables held by First Peoples in the South Pacific, Africa, Central and South America, and Asia. A total of 50 in-depth case studies, along with 27 climate change grant applications in video format and 134 written funding applications all provided qualitative data points for designing the delivery mechanism and IPCAF program. In addition, quantitative data was solicited from over 878 contacts – 600 with Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Non-Governmental Organizations, and 278 with non-Indigenous NGOs working with Indigenous Peoples.
The data called for a program design that would support traditional knowledge directly at the community level and provide strategic linkages among grassroots practitioners across the globe, as well as with strategic regional, national, and international forums.
Contact us and participate in IPCAF
IPCAF will be managed directly by First Peoples Worldwide, with technical advice from the World Bank. It has already raised the interest of private foundations, multilateral and bilateral agencies and private companies, as well as local and regional Indigenous organizations.
First Peoples Worldwide is seeking potential funding and technical partnerships for the Indigenous Peoples' Climate Action Fund. IPCAF's commitment to open design means your feedback is welcome in facilitating the participation of your organization.
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First Peoples Worldwide
857 Leeland Road • Fredericksburg, VA 22405 • USA
info@firstpeoples.org • (540) 899-6545
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| © Copyright 2007-2011, First Peoples Worldwide
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