Leave no one behind: An intentional call for a new social contract for indigenous peoples

9 August commemorates the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The number of indigenous people in Africa is estimated to be around 50 million. From the colonial period to the present, African regimes, indigenous peoples in Africa have been kicked out of their ancestral lands in the name of conservation and ultimately robbed of their lands and natural resources. Control over the allocation of land rights has historically and continues to be used as an instrument of oppression and marginalisation.

For indigenous communities, land, territories and natural resources not only constitute the basis of their spiritual, social and cultural identity but is central to the possibility of indigenous peoples determining their development and self-determination. Ownership, use, control over and the management of land, all directly affect the enjoyment of a wide range of other socio-cultural and economic rights.

There is an inextricable link between the collective land rights of indigenous peoples, and their right to self-determination, self-driven development, and equitable access to services, which all form key elements for the development of a new social contract. A social contract that must be intentional about combating decades of marginalisation and exclusion.

When: Wednesday 11 August 2021 at 2:30 pm (Kampala), 1:30 pm (Geneva), 12:30 pm (London)

Where: Zoom – Registration has now closed. Please see the event recording below.

Accessibility: An automated live transcript will be available using Otter.ai.

Speakers will include:

• Chebet Mungech, Programme Coordinator, Benet Lobby Group, Uganda
• Dinnah Majabu Robert, Pare minority community member, Pare Land Rights Defenders member and community worker, Taita Taveta Human Rights Network, Kenya
• Eliud Emeri, Chairperson, Turkana Land Rights Network (TLRN), and Executive Director, Turkana Bio Aloe Organization (TUBAE), Kenya
• Turyamubona Kenneth, Executive director, Batwa Community Development Organization (BCDO), Uganda

Watch the event

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Photo: Baleku Flora (centre) was born in the forest and left with her parents when the Ugandan government started setting aside the forest for mountain gorillas. She later went back to live on the outskirts of the forest with her husband who died before the government forced all Batwa out of the forest in 1991. With her family, she now lives in Buhoma, a village bordering the Bwindi National Park. Credit: Esther Ruth Mbabazi.