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US SUMMIT
The Indigenous Peoples delegates continued
lobbying for the inclusion of the phrase that reaffirms their role in
sustainable development.
The delegates told a press conference today that they had received
commitments of support from three states, Denmark, Norway and Finland for
the insertion of their recognition into the governments' Political
Declaration.
The delegates also used the press conference to present their demands and
sought for press support in their endeavours.
The officials said they were engaging their governments in series of
talks, and that they had received a pledge from the government of Norway
that it would propose the inclusion of their resolution into the Political
Declaration.
They are expected to engage governments in talks as a group from next
week.
The Indigenous delegates also called on the United States to sign the
Kyoto protocol and withdraw its military from Indigenous lands, and stop
production of weapons of mass destruction, as it's a sign of its
commitments to sustainable development.
The call comes in the wake of an announcement by the US President George
Bush - major pronouncements at the summit.
Bush, who announced today that the American delegation to the World Summit
will be led by the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said his delegation
will come with concrete and practical proposals for strong and lasting
partnerships to advance some of the world's key development priorities.
"We expect him to write off debts of developing nations, pay-off the
environmental destruction caused by militarisation of Indigenous lands,
and decommission the nuclear weapons, as a Christmas gift to the
Indigenous people" said Victoria Tauli Corpuz, of the Philippine based
Indigenous organization, Tebtebba.
The delegates said that over the decade, they had made great achievements.
These include getting the Indigenous Peoples world-over to come out and
press for their demands and the formulation of their Declarations.
"Suppression of Indigenous and traditional Peoples does not cancel out
poverty," Chief Oren Lyons, a member of the Native American delegation
from the United States, said.
Lyons said they will continue pressing for access rights to waterways,
oceans and other natural resources.
"Governments of the world must endorse the Draft Declaration of Indigenous
Peoples, and stop suppressing them" Lyons demanded.
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