Delivering economic and social justice for indigenous and tribal peoples through decent work

This International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is the first to follow the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change. These extraordinary achievements have set the international community on a critical path to ending poverty and protecting the planet.

The Agenda’s pledge that “no one will be left behind” requires particular attention to indigenous and tribal peoples - and especially to women among them – in our efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Indigenous and tribal peoples are uniquely vulnerable to discrimination and exclusion. They face specific difficulties in accessing quality education, decent work opportunities, support for income generating activities, and social protection. They are also among the most affected by the impacts of climate change and land dispossession.
The ILO’s Decent Work Agenda, and its four pillars of social dialogue, labour rights, social protection and employment, places the world of work at the centre of the solutions to social, economic and environmental problems.

We must ensure that indigenous and tribal peoples are able to realize their full potential as partners in delivering on the promise of inclusive, productive and sustainable development.

Through access to decent work, millions of indigenous women and men around the world will become agents of change, not only to secure their own livelihoods and needs, but also to preserve their natural resources. This will contribute to the collective efforts of all the stakeholders to create prosperous and peaceful societies that respect the environment and act against climate change.

The ILO’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples stress the right of indigenous peoples to take part in decision-making processes on matters that may affect them directly. It is now critical to build strong and effective mechanisms for institutionalized dialogue, consultation and participation so that their voices be heard and their contributions harnessed.

But this will be no easy task. It will require all of the key actors to come together: public authorities, employers’ and workers’ organizations, the representative institutions of indigenous and tribal peoples and civil society. The ILO is prepared, through its international conventions and supervisory mechanisms, and together with United Nations and development partners - to support this essential dialogue and help deliver on its vital conclusions.

Together, by building bridges and strengthening partnerships, guaranteeing equal access to education and most importantly, by empowering indigenous and tribal peoples through decent work, we can surmount the challenges ahead.