Climate Change Grant Extended to November 15

(Para informacion en espanol)

First Peoples Worldwide recently sent out a call to Indigenous-led NGOs or NGOs working with Indigenous Peoples to complete an application answering questions that show how climate change is impacting the Indigenous community, their local environment, and how the Indigenous Peoples are using traditional knowledge to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

First Peoples will be making one $2,000 grant to an Indigenous community or Indigenous organization to continue their work using traditional knowledge to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

In order to be considered for this grant, you must complete an online survey. Your answers from the survey will be considered by First Peoples Worldwide as your application for this $2,000 grant. All applications must be submitted via the online survey form by November 15, 2009. You must answer all of the questions in the application in order to be considered for a grant. Please note that the questions begin on page 4 and continue through page 7. If you have worked on the survey but did not answer all questions, please re-submit the entire application to or contact Jessica Friswell.

Climate change has many impacts. You might want to share what your community does when there is a drought or when there is too much rain. What does your community do when the seasons come at the wrong time? When the winds change? When crops do not grow? How does your community use traditional knowledge, the wisdom of elders, and other information to solve the problems of climate change? These are some questions to consider in your answers; however, please think beyond these few items when discussing the reality of climate change in your community.

Grant funding must be used to continue work in the areas of climate change within the community as described in the application. Grants will only be made once the winning organizations complete the necessary paperwork required by First Peoples Worldwide.

Your organization must be registered under the laws of your country and have a bank account in order to receive a grant. If your organization is not registered or does not have a bank account, you may partner with a registered local organization to act on your behalf. If your organization does not meet the criteria above, a grant cannot be made. No grants can be awarded for travel to or activities within the United States. Individuals are invited and encouraged to complete the questions to share their thoughts and input; however First Peoples Worldwide cannot make a grant to an individual.

First Peoples Worldwide may use quotes from your application on our website, in funder materials, or in group presentations.

First Peoples Worldwide is holding a Donors' Roundtable that the World Bank has offered to host in Washington, DC on November 18, 2009. The Roundtable will bring together international funders from both the private and public sector. At this Roundtable First Peoples will be launching an Indigenous Peoples Climate Action Fund (IPCAF), which will directly fund Indigenous Peoples and their work using traditional knowledge to adapt to and mitigate climate change.


We hope to share some of the information that has been submitted during our call for applications with the participants at this Roundtable to highlight the benefits of Indigenous Peoples' traditional knowledge as a viable tool for successfully adapting and mitigating climate change. We want to be able to share this powerful Indigenous voice with the Roundtable attendees. I am writing to ask for the community's permission to share pieces of your application at this Roundtable meeting. If you do not wish to have any pieces of your application used during the Roundtable meeting, it will in no way change your community or organization's eligibility for the $2,000 grant.


The purpose of the Roundtable is to generate funding for IPCAF and to educate participants about the successful use of Indigenous Peoples' traditional knowledge in adapting to and mitigating climate change. The purpose of IPCAF is to fund the work of communities toward climate solutions in ways that are culturally and locally appropriate. First Peoples Worldwide will manage the Fund which is important because we are an Indigenous-led organization and our President has over 30 years experience making grants directly to Indigenous communities. First Peoples is working hard and very strategically to divert the global funding streams so they will flow directly to Indigenous organizations. First Peoples is dedicated to equitable funding for our communities and as such we see the need to re-direct these financial resources so our communities can decide what programs they want and who they want to fund them.

First Peoples Worldwide reserves the right not to make a grant if we do not receive any applications. Applications received after November 15, 2009 will not be considered for grants. Not all applicants will be awarded grants.

SURVEY LINK:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=yoWTKMrud7MOMpLzlhRRlw_3d_3d

Please forward this email to others who may be interested in applying.

Please contact Jessica Friswell (jfriswell@firstpeoplesworldwide.org) with any questions.

Mid term evaluation of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People

The evaluation is a stocktaking exercise, so as to identify progress made and areas on which the UN agencies and other intergovernmental organizations, Member States, indigenous peoples' organizations...

more information

The evaluation is a stocktaking exercise, so as to identify progress made and areas on which the UN agencies and other intergovernmental organizations, Member States, indigenous peoples’ organizations and civil society organizations need to invest more effort, so as to further the successful implementation of the Decade’s goal and objectives. In order to obtain a balanced and well documented evaluation of the progress made in the implementation of the Second Decade.

Click here for further information.

UNPFII Mission to Paraguay and Bolivia: Mission Reports

On the basis of an invitation from the Governments of Paraguay and Bolivia, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues undertook a mission to the Chaco regions of Paraguay and Bolivia in April and May 2009.

more information

Trust Fund on Indigenous Issues relating to the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People

Overview

The Trust Fund for the Second Decade was established to promote, support and implement the objectives of the Decade. The Fund will give priority to projects concerning the main areas of the Second Decade: culture, education, health, human Rights, the environment and social and economic development. The Advisory Group for the Trust Fund for the Second Decade consists of members of the Permanent Forum’s Bureau.

Indigenous organizations or organizations working for indigenous peoples can apply for small grants from the Trust Fund. Guidelines to applicants for the Fund are available below.

It is expected that the Fund will mainly be used for small grants projects with a budget for up to 10,000 US$ covering one year’s expenses.

2010 Call for Proposals

The 2010 Call for applications for the Trust Fund on Indigenous Issues relating to the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People is open. Proposals will be accepted between 1 August 2009 and 1 November 2009.

Applications for Trust Fund grants will be accepted between 1 august 2009 and 1 November 2009. Applications are to be submitted to: indigenousfund@un.org during this time period. Applications submitted outside of this time period or to other email addresses will not be considered for funding. Applicants will receive an acknowledgment of receipt of proposal via email. However, due to the high volume of proposals received, the Secretariat of the UNPFII will not be able to respond to questions or requests from applicants. The proposals will be assessed in April 2010 and successful applicants will receive notice thereafter. A list of organizations awarded grants will also be posted on this website.

All applicants must submit their project proposals in accordance with the Trust Fund Grant Application Instructions, and must also submit a proposal summary sheet, in conformity with the instructions for filling out the summary sheet. Applicants should also review the Funding Guidelines for Activities Relating to the United Nations Second Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, which were amended in July 2008.

>>> Grant Application Instructions

>>> Summary Sheet for Grant Proposals (to be filled by applicants)

>>> Instructions for Completing the Summary Sheet for Grant Proposals

>>> Funding Guidelines For Activities Relating To The United Nations Second International Decade Of The World’s Indigenous People

Note to applicants: The Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues reserves the right to publish information on successful applications, such as the project name, implementing organization and grant amount, after grant agreements have been signed by the implementing organization and the Director of DSPD/DESA.

Call for nominations of UNPFII members

Dear Representatives of Indigenous Peoples,


The Department of Economic and Social Affairs has the honour to draw your attention to Economic and Social Council resolution 2000/22 of 28 July 2000 entitled “Establishment of a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues”.

According to paragraph 1 of that resolution, the Economic and Social Council:

“Decides to establish as a subsidiary organ of the Council a permanent forum on indigenous issues consisting of sixteen members, eight to be nominated by Governments and elected by the Council, and eight members to be appointed by the President of the Council following formal consultations with the bureau and regional groups through the coordinators, on a basis of broad consultations with indigenous organizations taking into account the diversity and geographic distribution of indigenous peoples of the world, as well as principles of transparency, representativity, and equal opportunity for all indigenous people, including internal processes, when appropriate, and local indigenous consultation processes. The members of the Forum will serve in their personal capacity as independent experts on indigenous issues for a period of three years with the possibility of re-election or re-appointment for one further period.”

The Permanent Forum serves as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues relating to economic and social development, culture, environment, education, health and human rights. The Permanent Forum holds annual sessions of ten working days each May.

The current membership of the Permanent Forum is due to expire at the end of 2010. Nominations are now requested for the three-year period from January 2011 until December 2013. Current members who have served the maximum of two terms (6 years) as Permanent Forums members cannot be nominated for a further term.

It has been the understanding of the indigenous caucus that the eight (8) indigenous nominated members should be from the seven socio-cultural regions determined to give broad representation to the world’s indigenous peoples. The regions are: Africa; Asia; Central and South America and the Caribbean; the Arctic; Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia; North America; and the Pacific.

It was also the understanding that the 8th member would be nominated from one of the three largest indigenous populated regions (Latin America, Asia and Africa) which would be rotated every three years. Latin America will have an extra member for the next term (2011 – 2013).

I am encouraging consultations amongst indigenous organizations to commence as soon as possible to ensure that the President of the Economic and Social Council has suitable candidates for consideration and appointment.

In considering possible candidates you are encouraged to take into account the principles of geographic distribution, and gender balance. Furthermore and in order for nominations to be complete, it is important to provide recent curriculum vitae of the nominees for consideration by the President of the Economic and Social Council. Information about the nominatingorganization(s) should also be submitted.

All correspondence should be sent to the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Room DC2-1454, New York, NY 10017, United States of America OR email to: indigenous_un@un.org


The deadline for submission of nominations is 1 February 2010

___________________________________________________________________________



Estimados Representantes de los Pueblos Indígenas,

El Departamento de Asuntos Económicos y Sociales de las Naciones Unidas tiene el honor de referirles a la resolución 2000/22 del Consejo Económico y Social del 28 de julio de 2000 titulada “Establecimiento de un Foro Permanente para las Cuestiones Indígenas.”

De acuerdo con el párrafo 1 de esa resolución, el Consejo Económico y Social:

“Decide establecer, como órgano subsidiario del Consejo Económico y Social, un foro permanente para las cuestiones indígenas integrado por 16 miembros, ocho de los cuales han de ser propuestos por los gobiernos y elegidos por el Consejo y los otros han de ser nombrados por el Presidente del Consejo, previa consulta oficial con la Mesa y con los grupos regionales porintermedio de sus coordinadores, sobre la base de consultas amplias con las organizaciones indígenas, teniendo en cuenta la diversidad y la distribución geográfica de las poblaciones indígenas del mundo, así como los principios de transparencia, representabilidad e igualdad de oportunidades para todos los pueblos indígenas, incluidos los procedimientos internos, cuando corresponda, y los procesos de consulta de las poblaciones indígenas locales; todos los miembros actuarán a título personal como expertos independientes en las cuestiones indígenas durante un periodo de tres años con la posibilidad de reelección o nuevo nombramiento por un nuevo periodo;”

El Foro Permanente sirve como un órgano asesor al Consejo Económico y Social con el mandato de discutir las cuestiones indígenas relacionadas al desarrollo económico y social, cultura, medio ambiente, educación, salud y derechos humanos. El Foro Permanente realiza sesiones cada año por diez días en Mayo.

La membresía actual del Foro Permanente vence a finales de 2010 y actualmente se están solicitando las nominaciones para el período de tres años de enero de 2011 a diciembre de 2013. Los actuales miembros que han servido por un máximo de 2 mandatos (6 años) no pueden volver a ser nominados por otro término.

El cónclave indígena ha comprendido que los ocho (8) miembros nominados por lasorganizaciones indígenas deben corresponder a las siete regiones socio-culturales determinadas para dar amplia representación a los pueblos indígenas del mundo. Las regiones son: África; Asia; Centro y Sudamérica y el Caribe; el Ártico, Europa del Este, Federación Rusa, Asia Central y Transcaucasia, América del Norte y el Pacífico

También se ha comprendido que el 8vo miembro sería nominado de una de las tres regiones más grandes con población indígena (América latina, Asia y África) rotada cada tres años. América latina tendrá un miembro adicional para el término siguiente (2011 - 2013).

Quisiera alentar la realización lo más pronto posible de consultas entre las organizaciones indígenas para asegurar que el Presidente del Consejo Económico y Social cuente con candidatos apropiados para ser considerados y nombrados.

Cuando estén considerando los candidatos posibles, se les recomienda tomar en cuenta los principios de distribución geográfica y equidad de género. Además, para que las nominaciones sean completas, es importante proporcionar un currículum vitae actualizado de los nominados para la consideración del Presidente del Consejo Económico y Social. También se debe presentar información sobre la(s) organización(es) nominadora(s).

Toda la correspondencia debe ser enviada a: la Secretaría del Foro Permanente para las Cuestiones Indígenas de las Naciones Unidas, Departamento de Asuntos Económicos y Sociales (DESA), DC2-1454, New York, NY 10017, EEUU O email a: idigenous_un@un.org

La fecha límite para el envío de nominaciones es el 1º de Febrero de 2010.