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Irene
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Posted: Jan. 01 2005,08:51 |
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[quote=mmartin,Nov. 16 2004,22:16][/quote]
| Quote | | Preserve the planet is one of the keys of a culture of peace. |
For sure it is; the question is what is the relation, and for this we can best listen to the wisdom of so many indigenous peoples, that from times immemorial are guardians of the earth. If we are not at peace with our environment, behaving like parasites, how can we even think about a peacefull and non violent culture for our future generations....it is like a contradiction in terms.
So we have to heal this error of thinking and realise that the relation between the environment and peace is one of inextricable boundage.
This is why I want to bring under your attention the Global Campaign: SPEAKING4EARTH that is launched at 9 december 2004 in the Peace palace in The Hague.
Indigenous peoples have a deep spiritual connection to their land, including the sky, the clouds, the rivers, the soil and all living creatures. In the indigenous world, it is said that land is not something you inherit from your ancestors, but rather something you borrow from your children. Speaking4Earth is a project connecting this sense of change in the western relationship with the world with the vision of indigenous peoples that we need to care for the earth for our future generations. Speaking4 earth makes it priority to have the draft declaration on the Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples addopted by the GA of the UN
reading their website:
For twenty years, Indigenous Peoples and their support organisations have been pressuring the United Nations to adopt a declaration for the protection of the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples. It is feared that – due to blocking attempts most notably by the UK and the USA - the UN will now stop this process and leave Indigenous Peoples’ rights unrecognized.
The United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is to become an internationally recognized legal instrument setting the minimum standards for the promotion and protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The existing Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects individual human rights. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is needed to protect the collective human rights of Indigenous Peoples, such as their rights to self-determination, culture, religion, language, lands, territories and natural resources. The protection of these collective human rights is essential for the survival of the more than 5,000 Indigenous Peoples, totalling over 300 million Indigenous persons in the world.
The present draft of this Declaration is a document composed of 45 Articles. Its adoption by the United Nations highest body, the General Assembly, was a primary objective in the present United Nations Decade for the World's Indigenous Peoples (1995-2004). However, as this Decade comes to a close, only a mere two Articles of the Declaration have been provisionally approved. The other 43 Articles, relating to the core issue of the promotion and protection of the collective human rights of Indigenous Peoples, have yet to be adopted.
The failure of the UN system thus far to establish and implement human rights standards for Indigenous Peoples constitutes a significant setback. And time is running out. The mandate of the UN Working Group entrusted with the elaboration of this Declaration has now expired. Indigenous Peoples now fear that this process will come to an end without the desired result - despite the many efforts by both Indigenous Peoples and Governments to work towards concensus on this Declaration. Will the twenty years of hard work on this process be in vain?
Now it will be up to the decision-making body, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, to take on this issue and determine whether this process can continue. The adoption of this Declaration is the most urgent issue facing Indigenous Peoples globally and the key to their very survival. It is important that an urgent message is sent to the United Nations, making it clear that this must continue.
click Speaking4earth, to read more, and to stay attuned.
Because Number 2j of the programm of action on a Culture of Peace makes the removal of obstacles to the realisation of the right of peoples an objective within the framework of a CoP, and in point 6; the actions to advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity, the further support of attainment of the goals of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples is explicitely mentioned, we find the key here to make the preservation of the earth the main focus of our efforts, because the realtion between the environment and peace might turn out to be the entranceportal for peace in this world.
Que a Paz Prevalença no Mundo
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