Ms. Chandra Roy coordinates the Regional Indigenous Peoples’ Programme (RIPP) at the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok. She assists Country Offices by supporting dialogue and cooperation on indigenous peoples’ issues at the national, regional and global level. Ms. Roy provides Country Offices with advice and assistance on programming, capacity development, advocacy and other initiatives to implement a human rights-based approach to indigenous peoples’ development.

Ms. Roy previously worked with the ILO where she was instrumental in establishing a project promoting ILO policy on indigenous peoples. She served as team leader for a human rights training programme for indigenous peoples in Asia and Africa.

 What awareness-raising activities are being conducted in the Asian region for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and how effective have they been?

There are many initiatives taken by a whole range of activists on the Declaration. For instance, it is being translated into various languages, by indigenous organizations, the UN system, and others. This is the first step to help people understand what this instrument is, and to let people know that the UN system has looked at indigenous issues and has come up with a framework.  

 The reason why our regional program was started was that the indigenous peoples asked UNDP to establish a specific program devoted to indigenous issues rather than having those issues lost in other programs.

Our program focuses on Asia, and with the Declaration being adopted just recently in 2007, the question is how can we guide our work to promote the implementation of it? Articles 41 and 42 very clearly indicate that it is the responsibility of the UN system and agencies to implement the Declaration, not just to promote it.

We have been restructuring our work to some extent so that it more closely reflects the Declaration. This document is very comprehensive and refers to a wide range of specific issues. We have been doing a lot of the work on land and natural resources - we examined how these issues fit into what the Declaration is promoting. We have worked on gender issues as well, more specifically the role of women in decision making, capacity building, and giving women support in being more confident in taking control and fully participating.

 We have been working on human rights from a developing perspective – how human rights can be implemented in or applied to the development process. We run capacity-building events, trainings, assessments and studies, based on a human rights approach targeted at the development of indigenous peoples. In the case of racial discrimination for example, it means enabling indigenous peoples to actively promote their rights so they are not discriminated against in any kind of development process.

What efforts are being taken by the Bangkok Regional Center to improve the relationship between indigenous peoples and their corresponding governments?

UNDP has been going through a process of regionalization and has set-up centers in various regions. Asia is one of the first ones among these. We work very closely with the country offices and with our two main partners, the indigenous peoples and the governments.

Given the fact that UNDP generally has the coordinating role, we are trying to use this role on a country level, to push the agenda a bit, and have indigenous peoples engage more actively with the government. Our way to do this is with policy dialogues, to involve the most marginalized with government processes and development initiatives. Our strategy has been to use thematic issues to provide a basis for research and analysis, and to bring partners together. For instance, we have had studies that came out on land and natural resource management, which we used to draw regional lessons and regional recommendations, and then we brought government and indigenous peoples together and had them discuss the different issues. We provide both parties with equal footing and have them sit together using UNDP as a mediator. They are encouraged to discuss issues not in a confrontational manner but more in way that better facilitates the understanding of what the issues really mean. For example, what land really means: access to the forest, a site to build a house on, the right to plant vegetables, and it also means the collective rights to specific areas. It has both individual and collective aspects. To have the Declaration is a tremendous progress in this communication.

There have been efforts to redistribute previously confiscated indigenous land. What actions can be taken to further redistribute land (and resources) in a way that does not lead to social chaos between various interest groups?

Redistribution of land and resources is more a claim at the moment than an actual process. This is, of course, a central and sensitive issue. Land is the central basis of indigenous peoples’ identity and the means of their survival. The claims are often confronting and cannot be managed on the regional level, but need to be dealt with on a national level. Obviously, each country is very specific, with various rules applicable. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples refers to these issues and provides a basis for further deliberations and actions. RIPP supports partnerships in the region between indigenous communities, governments, UN agencies, advocates, and others to develop better linkages and understanding of the regional dimensions of natural resources and climate change.

In the Anchorage Declaration the indigenous people offered their “Traditional Knowledge, innovations, and practices relevant to climate change” provided their intellectual property rights are recognized and respected. What kind of role is envisaged for indigenous peoples on the climate change negotiations at the UN?

In some of the communities climate change is a relatively new concept. It is something they have been addressing but not consciously thinking through. What we have done with a little bit of funding from our partners is a community-based dialogue. We selected eight projects in partnership with indigenous peoples to showcase best practices. We looked at how these have responded to climate change, how they have coped with it. You have to remember that indigenous peoples are very resilient. They have survived for centuries, and, hopefully, they will continue to survive. Climate change is just one of the phenomena that they are addressing along with other challenges.

A recent example is Indonesia where the weather over the rainforests has become unpredictable: there are unusual floods and drought, and unseasonal rain. Therefore, the planting plan needs to be adjusted, i.e. scheduled earlier, to avoid all the crop damage. UNDP tries to assist the indigenous peoples to adapt to the new circumstances while retaining their traditional culture and knowledge by developing seed banks. Indigenous peoples are losing traditional seeds, e.g. various kinds of rice. Now they might have six or eight different kinds, while before they had 13. We are trying to help them preserve the rice varieties in these little seed banks, to see how they can continue these crops. Another project in Bangladesh uses the indigenous eco-friendly cost-effective shifting cultivation to cope with global climate change.

What opportunities are there for indigenous participation in the work of UNDP in the region?

First of all, I am indigenous, and my colleagues are indigenous as well. We are advised by groups at least half of which are indigenous. They make suggestions on what direction to take, what the important issues are. Our projects that I talked about, such as the seed bank, are actually implemented by indigenous peoples. Our task force is extremely competent, capable, and skillful. They do the trainings, the analyses and the studies as well. We are very much run and managed by indigenous peoples. In fact, indigenous peoples put our regional program together: the workshop design was done through a consultation with them.

What do you think are the best ways for the emerging global civil society to support the indigenous rights movement?

Civil society movements play a very important role. In fact, the achievements of the indigenous peoples - the Declaration, the Forum, the expert mechanism - have all been achieved with the support of civil society. This is something that the indigenous peoples are very thankful for. However, one thing that has to be very clear is that if it is something to do with the indigenous peoples, then they themselves should be the ones voicing it. NGOs and civil society actors could provide support to indigenous peoples while letting them voice their own concerns and needs. It is a fine line that we need to draw here, and emphasize partnerships and strong alliances between CSOs and the Indigenous peoples when it comes to indigenous issues.