Theme: Indigenous youth as agents of change for self-determination

               9 August 2023

The Commission recalls that, during the audience granted by the CHRC Chairperson to a delegation from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, accompanied by two representatives of the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa on 11 April 2023, they underlined that “it is not for the United Nations or any government to say who is indigenous and who is not”, pointing to the “essential criterion of self-determination” as the basic rule in such matter.

The Commission strongly recalls Resolution ACHPR/Res. 489 (LXIX)2021 of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 5 December 2021 on the recognition and protection of the right of indigenous and local populations in Africa to participation, governance and use of natural resources.

The Commission notes that in most indigenous communities, young people play a leading role in forging a path between traditional knowledge and modern trends to find solutions to challenges such as food insecurity, Covid-19, climate change, justice and intergenerational relations (FAO, excerpt from Ms Rubi LOPEZ’s speech of 14 July 2022 on the management of development projects).

The Commission commends the Government’s efforts to combat poverty and promote the social inclusion of indigenous peoples and minorities.

The Commission encourages the Government to continue to promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples and to work towards the enjoyment of the right to self-determination, in particular by young indigenous people, with a particular focus on reducing the vulnerability of these peoples.