GENEVA (ILO News) – The Government of Nicaragua has delivered to the ILO the instrument of ratification of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), whose purpose is to protect the rights of these peoples and to guarantee respect for their integrity.

Mr Néstor Cruz Toruño, Permanent Representative of Nicaragua to the United Nations in Geneva, delivered the instrument bearing the signature of the President of Nicaragua, Mr. Daniel Ortega Saavedra, to Mr Kari Tapiola, Deputy Director-General and Executive Director of the Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Sector of the ILO.

ILO Convention No. 169 is based on the recognition of indigenous and tribal peoples’ aspirations to exercise control over their own institutions, ways of life and economic development and to maintain and develop their identities, languages and religions within the framework of the States in which they live

Through ratification of the Convention, Nicaragua has committed itself to giving full effect to the provisions of the Convention, including the development of coordinated and systematic action to protect the rights of the indigenous peoples of Nicaragua and to guarantee respect for their integrity. The establishment of appropriate and effective mechanisms for consultation and participation of indigenous and tribal peoples regarding matters that concern them is the cornerstone of the Convention.

Convention No. 169 is the only legally binding international instrument that specifically addresses indigenous peoples’ rights. In other countries where it has been ratified the Convention has served as a framework for constitutional and legal reforms leading towards the development of more equitable and inclusive societies. In Guatemala Convention No. 169 was instrumental in the peace accords that ended 30 years of civil war between indigenous groups and the government.

Indigenous and tribal peoples constitute at least 5,000 distinct peoples with a population of more than 370 million, living in 70 different countries.

The ratification by Nicaragua brings the total number of ratifications of Convention No. 169 to 21.