OAS Announcement

UCTP Public Notice: The Thirteenth Meeting of Negotiations in the Quest for Points of Consensus on the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was tentatively scheduled for March 30-April 3, 2009 has been postponed and will either be scheduled for April 27-May 1, 2009 or May 4-8, 2009. The dates will soon be confirmed by the OAS (Organization of American States).

UCTPPN 03.17.2009

3rd Indigenous Leaders Summit On Course

Damon Corrie and Roberto Borrero at the offices of the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa, Canada (UCTP Photo)

Ottawa, Canada (UCTP Taíno News) – A planning meeting for the upcoming 3rd Indigenous Leaders Summit of the Americas was held February 27-28, 2008 in Ottawa, Canada. The meeting was hosted by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the Native Womens Association of Canada.

Three representatives from the Caribbean Region were invited to attend as members of the planning committee – Damon Corrie (Barbados), Albert DeTerville (St. Lucia), and Roberto Borrero (Puerto Rico).

The Indigenous Leaders Summit will present a Declaration and Plan of Action to the 5th OAS Summit of the Americas that will be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad from April 17 – 19, 2009.

The Summit location has not yet been confirmed, but current choices location choices include Venezuela, Panama, and St. Lucia. Trinidad is also being considered but as a result of the OAS Summit, logistics could present a problem. While the cost and other factors will determine the actual meeting site, members of the local indigenous community are still hopeful that the Indigenous Summit will come to Trinidad.

“To not have this meeting in Trinidad would be a shame” stated Chief Ricardo Bharath Hernandez of the Santa Rosa Carib Community. Currently, the Santa Rosa Community is the only community on the island recognized by the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Close to 100 hundred indigenous leaders from throughout the hemisphere are expected to attend the meeting. Participants will be representative of 4 regions – South America; Central America & Mexico; North America (U.S.A & Canada ); and the Caribbean with about 20 participants per region.

Corrie was appointed to head the Communications Sub-Committee while DeTerville and Borrero will work with the Technical Committee. Outreach has already been circulated in the Caribbean Region for the delegate nominees.

The 3rd Indigenous Summit of the Americas will take place from April 14-15, 2009.

UCTPTN 03.05.2009

Indigenous Peoples plan OAS Summit Participation

UCTP Taino News - The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), have initiated a meeting to discuss the upcoming 3rd Indigenous Leaders Summit of the Americas (3rd ILSA). The primary goal of the 3rd ILSA is to precede and inform the Organization of American States’ 5th Summit of the Americas to be held in Trinidad.

Indigenous leaders from the Americas will participate in this event, including women, youth and Elder leaders from across hemisphere. A secondary goal is to continue the policy dialogue initiated in the first two Indigenous Summits and move this dialogue forward to focus on implementation of the measures necessary for the previous Declarations and Plans of Actions to be fully realized.

A preliminary ILSA Planning Committee meeting is scheduled to take place February 27-28 in Ottawa, Ontario, to be preceded by a teleconference call in the very near future.

The planning committee meeting will be co-hosted by Grand Chief Edward John, AFN and President Beverley Jacobs, NWAC.

Among the confirmed participants for the planning meeting is Roberto Mukaro Borrero of the United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP). Commenting on the meeting Borrero noted “as this international summit is taking place in Trinidad, this is an historic opportunity to increase the visibility of Caribbean Indigenous Peoples.”

Borrero also noted “Trinidad and Tobago is home to a recognized indigenous community and is the current Chair of the Caribbean Organization of Indigenous Peoples (COIP). It is more than appropriate for this reality to be highlighted before the international community who will be gathered at this event.”

The 5th Summit of the Americas is taking place from April 17-19, 2009 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

UCTPTN 02.25.2009

Indigenous Fellowship Programmes

EN ESPANOL ABAJO

Indigenous Fellowship Programmes

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organises every year an Indigenous Fellowship Programme, which is an extensive training programme aimed at strengthening indigenous representatives' knowledge of the United Nations system, general Human Rights mechanisms and other mechanisms more specifically dealing with indigenous issues. This programme is exclusively for indigenous persons. It is implemented in close cooperation with University partners and other UN agencies. Trained participants are better equipped to assist their organisations and communities in using existing international instruments and mechanisms to protect their rights. This training programme is available in 4 languages: English, Spanish, French and Russian. For more information on the fellowship programme, please visit our website:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/fellowship.htm

Deadlines to apply to the 2010 programmes per linguistic versions are:

- English: 30 April 2009
- Spanish: 15 July 2009
- French: to be confirmed
- Russian: 30 September 2009

************************************
ESPANOL

Programas de Becas para Pueblos Indígenas

La Oficina del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos (ACNUDH) organiza cada año un Programa de Becas para pueblos indígenas cual finalidad es fortalecer los conocimientos de representantes indígenas sobre el systema de las Naciones Unidas, mecanismos de derechos humanos, especialmente aquellos que analizan cuestiones indígenas. Este programa se desarolla exclusivamente para representantes indígenas. Está organizado en estrecha colaboración con Universidades y otras agencias de las Naciones Unidas. Los becarios capacitados están en mejor situación para ayudar a sus organizaciones y comunidades a utilizar estos intrumentos y mecanismos para proteger sus derechos. El programa de formación existe en 4 idiomas: Inglés, Español, Francés y Ruso. Para obtener más información sobre el Programa de Becas, puede visitar nuestra página web:
http://www2.ohchr.org/spanish/issues/indigenous/fellowship.htm

Las fechas límites para mandar sus solicitudes a los Progamas de Becas 2010 son (por componente linguístico):

- Inglés: el 30 de abril de 2009
- Español: el 15 de julio de 2009
- Francés: queda por confirmar
- Ruso: el 30 de septiembre de 2009

Bolivian vote a win for natives

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivian voters embraced a new constitution Sunday that promises more power for the long-suffering indigenous majority and grants leftist President Evo Morales a shot at remaining in office through 2014.

Read the article at UCTP TAINO NEWS