Indigenous peoples still experience racism, poor health, poverty: UN chief

"Indigenous peoples still experience racism, poor health and disproportionate poverty," says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

On the occasion of International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, the secretary general called on governments and civil society to fulfill their commitment to advancing the status of indigenous peoples around the world.

"In many societies, their languages, religions and cultural traditions are stigmatized and shunned," he said, adding "the first-ever United Nations report on the State of the World's Indigenous Peoples in January 2010 set out some alarming statistics."

"In some countries, indigenous peoples are 600 times more likely to contract tuberculosis than the general population. In others, an indigenous child can expect to die 20 years before his or her non-indigenous compatriots," he noted.

Ban said indigenous peoples have preserved a vast amount of humanity's cultural history. "Indigenous peoples speak a majority of the world's languages, and have inherited and passed on a wealth of knowledge, artistic forms and religious and cultural traditions."

The landmark United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in 2007, lays out a framework for Governments to use in strengthening relationships with indigenous peoples and protecting their human rights.

Says Ban, "Since then, we have seen more Governments working to redress social and economic injustices, through legislation and other means, and indigenous peoples' issues have become more prominent on the international agenda than ever before."

In India, indigenous peoples have been forest dwellers for centuries. The government refers to indigenous peoples as "Scheduled Tribes".

They have the highest poverty rate of the three categories of people officially distinguished. Additionally, they also form the poorest in the country.

According to the 2001 census, 84.33 million persons were classified as members of Scheduled Tribes.

Issuing a statement on the eve of International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay said, "Continuing violations of the rights of indigenous peoples, in all regions of the world, deserve our utmost attention and action."

She reminded that indigenous peoples continue to suffer discrimination, marginalisation in health and education, extreme poverty, disregard for their environmental concerns, displacement from their traditional lands and exclusion from effective participation in decision-making processes.