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 What is new at IPACC?
IPACC is preparing for a Pan-African workshop on how geospatial information technology (GPS, GIS, participatory mapping and cybertracker technology) can be used by indigenous peoples to ensure their recognition as stakeholders in land and natural resources management, conservation and climate change discussions;
IPACC will be attending the IUCN's World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain in October 2008;
IPACC members are organising to meet in Marrakech, Morocco in November for a joint workshop with Conservation International on Climate Change, Adaptation and Mitigation.
Check out the IPACC reports on REDD, the Bujumbura Action Plan on the Environment and Natural Resources, and the Tsumkwe report on formalising tracking under out FEATURED REPORTS menu on the left of the screen.
The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC) is a network of 150 indigenous peoples' organisations in 20 African countries.
IPACC's purpose is to unite diverse community based indigenous peoples' organisations into a network and alliance for effective advocacy. IPACC's elected Executive Committee is dedicated to the co-ordination of advocacy strategy and activities which promote the rights and voices of indigenous peoples at national, sub-regional, African and international levels.
IPACC promotes recognition of and respect for indigenous peoples in Africa; promotes participation of indigenous African peoples in United Nations' events and other international forums, and strengthens leadership and organisational capacity of indigenous civil society in Africa.
IPACC supports contact visits between indigenous peoples and inter-country cooperation and training. IPACC also conducts pilot projects related to the inter-generational transmission of traditional knowledge of biodiversity; Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling - a type of participatory landscape mapping; the assessment and certification of tradtional knowledge of tracking; and innovative approaches to fighting poverty by using sustainable indigenous approaches to natural resources management.
IPACC works in partnership with the Technical Centre for Agricultural Cooperation with Rural Areas (CTA EU-ACP); Cybertracker Foundation; African Biodiversity Network; Indigenous Information Network, Wildlife Conservation Society, the Global Diversity Foundation and UNESCO's working group on Education for Sustainable Development.
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IPACC is a membership network. Voting members are found in: Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Gabon, DR Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Botswana, Angola, Namibia and South Africa. New associations are joining or emerging in Congo Republic, Central African Republic and Ethiopia.
IPACC is operative in six geographic and cultural regions:
North Africa, West Africa (Sahara), Sahel-Horn,
Central Africa (Rainforest), East Africa and Southern Africa.
[ View overview map of Regions ] |
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Who is indigenous in Africa?
Peoples claiming to be ‘indigenous’ in Africa are mostly those who have been living by hunting and gathering or by transhumant (migratory nomadic) pastoralism. These are distinct peoples who's economies and cultures are different from the national dominant cultures. They are reliant on the sustainable use natural resources. Their cultures are closely linked to the special environmental conditions under which they have survived - for example deserts, savannah drylands and equatorial rainforests.
The legal concept of 'indigenous' rights in Africa is a new one. Evidently, all Africans are indigenous in the literal sense of the word. The rise of an organised civil society claiming rights as indigenous peoples is tied to major changes in Africa which are putting nomadic, transhumant, hunting and herding peoples at risk. The main risk is land alienation and the loss of biodiversity caused by agricultural settlers and new industries such as logging and mining. Colonialism entrenched the power of agricultural elite within the State structure. The State in Africa often works in concert with international capital and multinational corporations to alienate valuable natural resources which place both biodiversity and cultural diversity in jeopardy.
IPACC recognises that all Africans should enjoy equal rights and respect. All of Africa’s diversity is to be valued. Particular communities, due to historical and environmental circumstances, have found themselves outside the state-system and underrepresented in governance. These ‘first-peoples’ or ‘autochthonous peoples’ have associated themselves with the United Nations’ standards on the rights of indigenous peoples. This is not to deny other Africans their status; it is to emphasise that affirmative recognition is necessary for hunter-gatherers and herding peoples to ensure their survival. IPACC uses the language of the CBD to note the common interests of indigenous and local communities .
IPACC's value system has developed through years of dialogue between indigenous leaders. IPACC emphasises the important link between biological diversity and cultural diversity, and the fundamental role that natural resource users have in conservation and wildlife management. IPACC operates within the framework of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, affirming the integrity of the state while assuring that democracy is only alive when all peoples have the right of self-determination and to play an active role in natural resource management and good governance. IPACC affirms three core principles: participation of indigenous peoples in decision making, pluralism in African economies that allow for sustainable hunting and gathering, nomadic pastoralism, fishing and other non-agricultural activities in arid, semi arid and humid forest areas, partnership between indigenous peoples, their respective States and the private sector to find sustainable and mutually acceptable solutions to challenges of the environment, quality of life and good governance.
In November 2003, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights adopted a report of its working group recognising that there are indigenous peoples in Africa whose rights are being violated. In September 2007, all but three African states voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Three states abstained and non-voted against. Legal mechanisms to protect indigenous rights are being adopted in Burundi, Congo Republic, South Africa and Ethiopia. Policy dialogue is taking place in Morocco, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Burundi, Gabon, Angola and Namibia.
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