Comemmorating International days is a way of making information on issues of interest be available to the general public. At the same time they are intended to raise public awareness and to point out to the governments that there are unsolved problems so they can implement public policies to solve them in the best possible way.
August 9 is the date chosen by the UN to commemorate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, in recognition of the first United Nations working meeting on indigenous peoples that took place in 1982.
Some figures
There exist around 476 millions of Indigenous people living in over 90 countries. They represent just over 5 percent of the world’s population, yet they are among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable populations, representing 15 percent of the poorest ones.
Over the years, indigenous peoples have sought recognition of their identity, way of life and rights to their native territories and natural resources. However, throughout history, their rights have always been violated. Their territories host the 80% of the worlds biodiversity, but they still find themselves between the most disadvantaged populations in the planet.
A few facts you may didn’t know:
– 47% of all working indigenous people are uneducated, compared to 17% of their non-indigenous counterparts. This gap is even bigger in the case of women.
– More than 86% of indigenous people worldwide, as opposed to 66% of their non-indigenous peers, work in the informal economy.
– In addition, they are almost three times more likely to live in extreme poverty than their non-indigenous counterparts.
-Just over 70 percent of all persons belonging to indigenous peoples live in Asia and the Pacific, 16 percent in Africa, followed by 11.5 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and then the remaining ones in Europe and North America.
Sources:
https://www.un.org/es/observances
https://www.un.org/es/observances/indigenous-day/background
https://www.cultura.gob.ar/dia-internacional-de-los-pueblos-indigenas-9345/