Human Rights Mechanisms

Leya Hale, 36, lives in St. Paul. She was born and raised in the Los Angeles area. She is Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and Navajo. She is a storyteller, a documentary filmmaker, and a producer with Twin Cities PBS (TPT), where she’s been working for the past eight years. Her recent film, "Bring Her Home," addresses the epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in the United States. 

In this radio program, Bush Radio 89.5 FM in Cape Town talks to Chris Nissen, The Human Rights Commissioner of South Africa on the importance of revitalizing Indigenous Languages.

Produced by Bush Radio
Interviewee: Chris Nissen

Joan Carling (Kankanaey), Co-convenor of the Indigenous Peoples’ Major Group for Sustainable Development (IPMG), is an Indigenous activist from the Cordillera in the Philippines with more than 20 years of experience in working on Indigenous issues from the grassroots to the international level. Her expertise includes areas like human rights, sustainable development, the environment, climate change, and also the implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
Joan Carling attended the 26th convening of the Conference of the Parties or COP 26 in Glasgow in November 2021.

Cultural Survival’s Lead on Brazil, Edson Krenak of the Krenak Peoples was at COP26, joining Indigenous delegations in making sure Indigenous voices are heard and listened to in the fight to combat climate change. 
Produced by Avexnim Cojti (Maya Ki'che) and Shaldon Ferris (Khoisan)
Soundclip: Edson Krenak at COP26
Image: Edson Krenak 
Music: "Anania2" by The Baba Project, used with permission

On September 29, 2021, the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste reduction will be commemorated to ensure that we all do our best to preserve food, and to respect the effort that goes into ensuring that it ends up on our tables, and to make sure that we do not take it for granted.
With only 9 years to go until 2030, we check in with the San community of Namibia, who explains to us how important a plate of food is to them, and how difficult it is to survive everyday life.
This interview is was provided to Indigenous Rights Radio by Indigenous Youth Exchange Radio.

Diana Morat from Eldos FM interviews Tauriq Jenkins on the saga of Amazon.com who wants to set up shop in Cape Town, South Africa. The piece of land that has been identified by Amazon has become a bone of contention. First Nations have a strong claim to this land because in 1510 it was the site of the first battle between the Khoi and European colonizers - in this instance the Portuguese Viceroy of India, Francisco d'Almeida. This is sacred land. The issues are of human rights, of heritage, of water and flora and fauna, of recreation and refreshment, of air and stars.

The International Day for People of African Descent will be celebrated for the first time on August 31, 2021. Through this observance, the United Nations aims to promote the extraordinary contributions of the African diaspora around the world and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against people of African descent. Cultural activist Letitia Timas Petersen tells us the story of Franz Taaibosch, an Indigenous Korana South African who was taken abroad to be paraded as a circus act.

Every year on August 9, International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples marks the ‘first formal meeting’ of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, held back in 1982. It is celebrated to bring attention to the 476 million Indigenous Peoples living in 90 countries across the globe. This year’s theme is `Leaving no one Behind: Indigenous Peoples and the call for a social contract.” The term social contract in relation to Indigenous Peoples may be confusing as this has not yet been discussed much.

There are over 476 million Indigenous Peoples living in 90 countries across the world, accounting for 6.2 percent of the global population. Indigenous Peoples are the holders of a vast diversity of unique cultures, traditions, languages, and knowledge systems. They have a special relationship with their lands and hold diverse concepts of development based on their own worldviews and priorities.
In this radio program, we hear from Nailejileji Tipap, who works as the Gender and Public Relations Coordinator at Pastoralists Indigenous NGOs Forum in Tanzania.

Interview with MP Prof. Dalxa about Eylo Indigenous people in Somalia whose political rights are denied. Prof. Daxla also talks about Indigenous youth.
Interview by Horn Afrik News Agency for Human Rights (HANAHR).
For HANAHR: Adam Illyas
Interviewee Professor Dalxa (MP, Somalia)
Image: Professor Dalxa
Music: "Anania2" by The Baba Project, used with permission.
"Burn your village to the ground", by A Tribe called Red, used with permission.