This April at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the Indigenous Navigator’s partners drove the debate around indigenous participation in the Development Agenda 2030 by giving insights on how indigenous peoples can engage on the SDGs by collecting their own data.
During , Co-convener of the Indigenous Peoples Major Group Joan Carling provided key updates on the SDGs and a practical guide on the engagement of indigenous peoples in the .
The Indigenous Development Agenda
Indigenous peoples are at the core of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, since 80% of the biodiversity of the world lies on their territories. Even though all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are relevant to indigenous peoples, two targets speak directly to indigenous peoples: SDG 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture and SDG 4 Quality Education.Further, indigenous peoples are directly involved in the goal on the implementation of the SDGs through global partnerships, SDG 17.
As a result of indigenous peoples’ strong engagement in the process towards the 2030 Agenda, the final document “Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” refers to indigenous peoples six times-- three times in the political declaration; two in the targets and one in the section on follow-up and review that calls for indigenous peoples’ participation. .
The key is disaggregated data
Disaggregated data plays a key role in monitoring the implementation of indigenous rights. “Data will show if there is progress and where are the gaps. Without the data we will be in the dark for reporting on the realities from the ground”, said Joan Carling in regards to data collection.
Ethnicity is one of the key aspects for data disaggregation on indigenous issues. In this sense, “we indigenous peoples are best placed to assess if the monitoring is working for us”, said Carling about why it is important for indigenous communities to be part of the construction of indicators.“We will be visible thanks to data disaggregation”, she said. For Carling the only way forward is that indigenous peoples lead by monitoring their own situation to impact public policy at all levels.
The advantages of using the Indigenous Navigator
During the side event, there was also time for discussing the advantages of using The Indigenous Navigator framework and set of tools (#IndigenousData).
“The Indigenous Navigator is a set of tools for and by indigenous peoples to gather their own data and use it for multiple purposes”, said Senior Specialist on Equality and Non-discrimination Martin Oelz from ILO.
He explained that the project is now in a crucial phase and that the consortium welcomes contributions to ensure that the data gathering is open and participatory. “The goal is that indigenous peoples become strong actors in the development agenda and engage with other development actors at a national and international level”, he said.
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