“Whether in person or virtually, indigenous peoples need to have a seat in the decision-making table. But the pandemic highlighted historical and long-standing marginalization of indigenous peoples in terms of necessary infrastructures and technology for communications.”

According to Helen Biangalen-Magata, Tebtebba Communications Officer and one of the resource speakers of the training, “the event is a pre-requisite for many indigenous peoples so that they are not further left behind in many virtual processes happening now—processes that require their engagement, processes that require their voice, processes that require their presence”.

Tebtebba and the ELATIA Indigenous Peoples’ Training Institute launched a three-day internal Training-Workshop on Enhancing the Use of Social Media and Digital Security on 14 to 16 April 2021 in Baguio City, Philippines, which was participated in by the different staff of Tebtebba.

The training was intended to improve the capacity of the different key program staff to coach or mentor indigenous partner organizations and communities towards their meaningful engagement in various national and international processes being done virtually.

The training-workshop revolved around the use and management of the different social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Zoom. Several hours were also used to discuss digital security including password and contact details protection. The activity involved experience sharing and identifying the dos and don’ts of attending different online meetings. Various software applications were also introduced to further enhance content creation skills.

Because the pandemic heavily impacted the ease of conducting face-to-face gatherings, more and more activities shifted online including dialogues between indigenous peoples and the government, advocacy-oriented webinars, regular partner consultations, and so forth. In these varied virtual meetings, the necessity of learning and improving social media use were, in the process, identified.

 “With the difficult pandemic situation, the training-workshop was a very timely initiative. The skills learned during the event will definitely enhance our collective capacity as indigenous peoples engaged in advocacy work, bringing forth the different indigenous peoples concerns and priority issues to various local and global processes,” enthused Grace T. Balawag of Tebtebba’s Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Program. “These virtual platforms must, indeed, be maximized so that our key advocacy messages may be effectively communicated and disseminated. Hopefully, we can extend such significant trainings especially to our local partners to further enhance our collective indigenous peoples’ advocacy work.”

The social media training is an offshoot of the previous Dayalogo series that was facilitated by Tebtebba between indigenous peoples and relevant national government agencies in the Philippines that began in 2020. The training was made possible with the support from Bread for the World.

“Indigenous institutions and values [are being] ignored and devalued.”

Kimaren Ole Riamit of the Indigenous Livelihood Partners (ILEPA) in Kenya, asserted the elements crucial for attaining Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 in a side event for the 20th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) on 21 April 2021. The elements should include “mutually respectful sustainable partnership, support for indigenous engagement, security of livelihoods, and protection of environmental defenders,” he said.

“We see the issues faced by indigenous peoples caused by their non-inclusion in the different decision-making bodies. There is a need to prioritize their recognition to successfully achieve Sustainable Development Goal 16 and all the different goals,” pointed out Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the executive director of Tebtebba and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNSRRIP) as she consolidated the reports made by the different panel speakers.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the executive director of Tebtebba and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNSRRIP)

“The stories that we heard today are only part of the bigger picture. The recognition of indigenous systems and the capacity of indigenous peoples to adapt to the different changes can hugely help in the achievement of the SDGs,” she added.

Likewise, Mrinal Kanti Tripura shared the contributions made by Maleya Foundation in its mission to empower the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, mentioning that the Foundation started working toward the community’s self-determination, development, and conflict transformation. He, then, stressed on the need to achieve positive peace and look for ways to eradicate invisible violence as well as visible ones.

Nadia Soldevilla Pacheco, project manager of the Center for Indigenous Cultures of Peru (CHIRAPAQ), narrated the plight of Andean and Amazonian communities during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, mentioning that “the lack of access to safe water, sanitation, basic infrastructure, and equipment and free and adequate health services has made them even more vulnerable than before the advent of the disease.” She added that “in the absence of a specific response from the state, the indigenous peoples themselves have promoted their own processes that guarantee their survival.  [They] combine traditional practices with Western medicine, with an emphasis on prevention, care and collective management of disease, and healthy eating.”

In the same manner, Bernice See of Tebtebba Foundation recounted their experiences with regard to undertaking the Indigenous Navigator initiative with indigenous peoples in the Philippines. She related the challenges they face with regard to displacement caused by political conflict, tenurial issues over their lands and territories, and insufficient access to social services, among others. She, however, detailed the manifold indigenous practices that continue to aid indigenous communities in the Philippines as they strive to “navigate towards the achievement of just, peaceful and inclusive societies.”

Meanwhile, “mentoring younger generations is helpful in sustaining indigenous peoples’ work on policy advocacy and in sustaining their communities” asserted Maribeth Bugtong-Biano, director of the Elatia Training Institute. She added that “trained, young indigenous peoples are now engaging in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Green Climate Fund. And they help further strengthen their indigenous institutions.”

The side event entitled “Achieving SDG16: Building community resilience and strong indigenous peoples’ institutions” was attended by a total 47 participants and indigenous panel speakers from the different regions of the world.  The UNPFII is a high-level advisory body to the Economic and Social Council established in 2000 with the primary mandate to deal with indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health, and human rights. It holds an annual session at its headquarters in New York, USA but had to hold most of its events virtually in 2020 and this year due to the pandemic.

Download presentations here.

Nine partners of ELATIA, an indigenous peoples’ global partnership on climate change, forests and sustainable development, have been implementing capacity-building activities among local indigenous communities in their countries since October 2020.

The main theme of the capacity building activities revolved around approaches to indigenous peoples’ sustainable and self-determined development or IPSSDD.  IPSSDD reiterates the centrality of indigenous peoples’ rights in development while ensuring the protection, sustainable use, and management of the environment. A holistic approach, IPSSDD also ensures the support for sustainable, traditional livelihoods and the respect for cultural diversity. The vital roles of indigenous women and youth and the intergenerational transfer of traditional knowledge are important components of IPSSDD.

Towards sustaining initial efforts to develop and capacitate next generation leaders, the partners have been developing training materials, localizing or contextualizing and translating existing training modules into local languages and producing audio and visual materials. Furthermore, they have been conducting learning sessions and discussions, community workshops, and focused group discussions with substantial participation of indigenous women and the youth.

Institut Dayakologi based in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, conducted field assessments, focused group discussions, and workshops to contextualize the IPSSDD training modules prior to the implementation of training activities in different communities.

The Field Assessment at Kampong Batu Menang. Mr. Ajin Vinsentius briefs the participants during the field assessment at Kampong Batu Menang, Ketapang District in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. (Photo Credit: ID’s Documentation Team)

An indigenous youth, who participated in the IPSSDD training at Kampong Segumon in KTJ of Sanggau District in West Kalimantan, Indonesia last December 12, 2020, shares her thought about indigenous knowledge to the other participants. (Photo Credit: ID’s Documentation Team)

As part of practicing the lessons from the training, the Mainyoito Pastoralists Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO) based in Nairobi, Kenya, facilitated a dialogue between the trained indigenous youth and women with the Kajiado County Ministry of Youth and Gender last November 2020.

Indigenous women and youth talk about climate change mitigation and adaptation at Olooruka Resource Center Training last December 2020. (Photo: MPIDO)

Lands issues being confronted by the Maasai communities around their traditionally-occupied land, now called Ngorongoro Conservation Area, are central to the training conducted by Pastoralists Indigenous Non-Governmental Organization's Forum (PINGO's Forum) based in Arusha, Tanzania. The participants were oriented about legal procedures for land upgrade and land acquisition.

Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners (ILEPA), based in Narok, Kenya, targeted indigenous youth in their capacity building on IPSSDD concepts and approaches. ILEPA also video-documented lessons and experiences of communities as well as gaps in realizing a self-determined development of indigenous peoples.

Noolmejooli Nkoitiko of Maji-moto/Naroosura ward in Narok, Kenya shares her experiences in actively participating in data collection and community needs identification and prioritization in Maji-moto facilitated by ILEPA in one of its implemented projects. (Screengrab from ILEPA’s Youtube account)

Indigenous youth participants watch the video documentation during the training last December 2020 at Zebu Lodge in Narok, Kenya. (Photo: ILEPA)

The COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges to the implementation of capacity building activities. It has limited the mobility and direct interactions of participants, trainers, and facilitators. To ensure health safety of everyone, the organizations enforced basic health safety protocols.

One of the participants takes a test as a required health protocol before attending the training at Jurung-ID Pontianak in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. (Photo credit: ID’s Documentation Team)

Being supported by the Tamalpais Trust, the project is part of achieving the overall goal of ELATIA to realize indigenous peoples’ sustainable, self-determined development through the training of next-generation indigenous leaders including women and youth.

The other partners involved in the project include Lelewal in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Union pour l’Emancipation de la Femme Autochtone” (UEFA) in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, Center for Autonomy and Development of Indigenous Peoples (CADPI) in RACCN, Nicaragua, Center for Indigenous Peoples' Research and Development (CIPRED) in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Silingang Dapit-Southeastern Mindanao, Inc. (SILDAP) in Tagum City, Philippines.