The International Labour Organization (ILO) released a Report marking the 30th anniversary of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169 (ILO Convention 169). The treaty came into force in 1991 and contains specific provisions on the protection and promotion of the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. To date, ILO Convention 169 is the single legally binding document on this issue, in contrast to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, only 23 countries have ratified the convention, covering just 15 percent of an estimated 476 million indigenous people globally.

Most notably, the Report highlights that the realization of indigenous and tribal peoples’ rights is imperative for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as they center around the principle of inclusive development to effectively address poverty, inequality and climate change. Indigenous women and men are over-proportionally affected by socioeconomic structures of inequality and continue to be the ‘poorest among the poor.’ The Report finds that they are almost three times more likely to live in conditions of extreme poverty (defined as people living below a $1.90 a day) in comparison to non-indigenous people. Consistent with these findings, many UNPO Members find themselves in situations of structural marginalization. The Hmong are often badly integrated in the political, economic, educational and health systems in Laos, and suffer from extreme poverty and widespread, top-down, discrimination. Similarly, the Batwa continue to live in conditions of poverty and extreme poverty in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DRC, as their livelihood systems are threatened due to land grabbing committed by the respective governments, rendering them vulnerable to social and economic marginalization.

Experiences of socio-economic inequality are particularly strong in the work sphere, were gaps exist between indigenous and non-indigenous men and women in terms of conditions of work, treatment and outcomes. According to the Report, although indigenous people are more likely to be employed, the quality of employment tends to be bad. Thus, higher employment rates without access to decent work do not improve their situation. Moreover, indigenous people are 20 percent more likely to work in the informal economy than non-indigenous people, while their share of wage and salaried employment is significantly lower (27.9 percent for indigenous employees in contrast to 49.1 percent for their non-indigenous counterparts). Furthermore, indigenous people earn 18.5 percent less than non-indigenous workers, with the highest wage gap of 31.2 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Report identified discrimination as continuing root cause of the significant wage gap, as well as lower educational accomplishments and the general issue of lower wages in rural areas, where many indigenous people live and work. 

Importantly, the Report highlights that socioeconomic inequality is experienced differently among indigenous women and men. For example, the former are 25.6 percent more likely to work in the informal economy than their non-indigenous counterparts, and almost half as likely to be in salaried work. Indigenous women are the most likely to live under conditions of extreme poverty, with least chances of achieving basic education. On the other hand, they have been very active in demanding greater participation at all levels of decision making and created transnational networks to advocate for decent work and indigenous peoples’ rights. Such examples include Chanchana Chakma from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a community that continues to struggle under human rights violations and discrimination due to Bangladesh’s failure to implement the 1997 Peace Accord.

The Report concludes that indigenous and tribal people’s perspectives on development programs are imperative for addressing global challenges of poverty, inequality and climate change. Consistent with ILO Convention 169 and the right to self-determination, countries should implement institutions and mechanisms that facilitate their consultation and participation in development and policy-making. At the same time, they should support indigenous and tribal peoples to create their own representative institutions, thus enhancing their capabilities to engage as meaningful economic, social and climate actors. Therefore, states should ratify ILO Convention 169 and acknowledge that indigenous and tribal people’s right to self-determination is fundamental for achieving the 2030 Agenda on sustainable development for all.

Photo by ILO: An indigenous woman in rural Cambodia.