Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) Annual Report 2012: A Year of Growth and Consolidation

Click here to read AIPP's A Year of Growth and Consolidation: 2012 Annual Report.

Message from AIPP:

The year 2012 may have passed quickly, but this has been a year of significant advancement for AIPP. At the programme level, the Environment Programme has expanded to include specific projects on community-based climate change adaptation while capacity building on REDD+ has now included more countries in the Maekong region. The Indigenous Women Programme has not only sustained the work on Violence Against Women (VAW), but has started to include sustainable development and access to justice of indigenous women. This has been achieved through advocacy activities and the successful conduct of specific regional workshops, in partnership with UN Women.

The advocacy work of AIPP has not only been sustained but has also expanded within the context of strengthening the solidarity and cooperation of indigenous peoples in Asia. In particular, AIPP organized several regional workshops and meetings, including the Asia Regional Meeting in Preparation for the Global Meeting on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) 2014, The Asia Pacific Regional Workshop with IFAD and Indigenous Peoples of the 2013 Global Forum of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and a regional workshop with UN-REDD, among others. 

The biggest achievement of AIPP in 2012 has been its institutional strengthening as reflected in the expansion of its members and the successful conduct of its 6th General Assembly in September, which was participated in by 124 delegates. The major achievements of the 6th GA are as follows: 

1. Adoption of the new AIPP Constitution and By-laws based on the AIPP Charter and working guidelines;

2. Approval of 16 candidate members as regular members, making the total number of AIPP membership to 46 organizations in 14 countries;

3. Election of the expanded Executive Council (EC) from seven to 12, including representatives of women and youth, and the reelection of the Chairperson, Mr. Famark Lhawnching, and the Secretary General, Ms. Joan Carling, for another four-year term (2012-2016);

4. Adoption of the new AIPP Gender Policy;

5. Adoption of the Strategic Programme of AIPP for 2013-2016; and

6. Direct interaction with AIPP partners and donors.

Three years after filing our application, AIPP was finally able to receive in July 2012 its accreditation as an NGO in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This will enable AIPP to further engage with the UN system in advancing the issues and concerns of indigenous peoples of Asia.

With these advances come tremendous challenges.

Key to meeting these challenges are the consolidation of the members of AIPP, the strengthening of the Executive Council as the leadership body, and increasing further the capacity of the Secretariat to ensure effective implementation of the expanded programmes. These, therefore, are the priorities and focus of AIPP for 2013 and beyond.