29 April, 2013
By Samuel Nnah Ndobe
The notion of indigenous people has sometimes been controversial in Africa. There are some opinions that consider all Africans as indigenous people liberated from colonial powers, while others simply stress that it is very difficult to determine who is indigenous in Africa. The setting up in 2001 by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) of a Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities and the Group’s report submitted to and adopted by the ACHPR in 2003 have brought a new perspective to this problem. In this report for the first time there was a unanimous acceptance of the existence of indigenous peoples in Africa and this kicked off discussions on how countries could begin to integrate the rights of these peoples into the human rights mainstream. The indigenous peoples of Central Africa include the mostly hunter gatherer peoples commonly called the “Pygmies” and a number of pastoralist peoples. These peoples still suffer discrimination experienced through the dispossession of their land and destruction of their livelihoods, cultures and identities, extreme poverty, lack of access to and participation in political decision-making and lack of access to education and health facilities.
12 November, 2012
As part of its REDD+ preparation, Cameroon submitted on 6 August 2012 the draft of its REDD Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) managed by the World Bank.
Following the recommendation of the national validation workshop held in Ebolowa, Cameroon in June 2012, members of Cameroonian civil society met as part of the Forests and Communities Platform (Plateforme Forêts et Communautés) from 11 to 13 September 2012, to analyse the strengths and areas for improvement of the R-PP.
3 June, 2011
The recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights is a recent development on the African continent. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has, over the last decade, given heightened attention to indigenous peoples’ rights, notably through the creation of its Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities (WGIP) in 2000. This is mostly due to the efforts of civil society organisations which have documented the obstacles faced by indigenous peoples in the enjoyment of their individual and collective rights, and which have brought the many instances where these rights have been violated to the attention of the Commission.
3 May, 2010
Submitted by Centre for Environment and Development (CED), Réseau Recherches Actions Concertées Pygmées (RACOPY) and Forest Peoples Programme (FPP).
Read the report in English or in French.
Centre for Environment and Development (CED), Réseau Recherches Actions Concertées Pygmées (RACOPY), and Forest Peoples Programme (FPP)
27 January, 2010
A supplementary report submitted in connection with Cameroon’s 15th-19th periodic reports (CERD/C/CMR/19)
Lucy Mulvagh, John Nelson and Dorothy Jackson
2 May, 2005
To obtain a copy of The Indigenous World 2005 from IWGIA, click here
At the International Conference on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes region in November 2004, 11 heads of state signed an agreement to end conflicts in the Great Lakes region, although the strategy to implement the declaration have yet to be agreed in inter-ministerial meetings during 2005.Despite this, conflicts continued to rage throughout the region, particularly in eastern DRC. There were signs of improving regional relations when the Congolese authorities signed separate joint verification mechanisms to improve border security with Rwanda and Uganda, while in August DRC, Rwanda and Uganda agreed to disarm groups operating within their territories within the year. Nevertheless, hostilities resumed in November when Rwanda’s President Kagame announced they would invade DRC again to disarm and repatriate Hutu militants because the Congolese authorities were not acting quickly enough to do so.
24 October, 2003
Commentaires sur l’IPDP du PSFE et du PNDP
15 January, 1994
Submitted by Centre for Environment and Development (CED), Réseau Recherches Actions Concertées Pygmées (RACOPY) and Forest Peoples Programme (FPP)
.thumbnail.jpg "Baka women and children consultation, Cameroon, March 2009")