The unique cultures of minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide – spanning a wide variety of customs and practices – are under threat. This year’s edition of State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples highlights the impact of land dispossession, forced assimilation and other forms of discrimination on the most fundamental aspects of their identity, including language, art, traditional knowledge and spirituality. But while the effects of this attrition can be devastating, minority and indigenous cultures have also been critical in strengthening communities and providing activists with a platform to fight for their rights. As this volume illustrates, ensuring that the cultural freedoms of minorities and indigenous peoples are protected is essential if their other rights are also to be respected.
‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ Nelson Mandela Education for all is a goal that has been reaffirmed by states the world over many times in the last decade. It is meant to be achieved by 2015. But as this book clearly shows, a quality education is not reaching the world’s most vulnerable communities: minorities and indigenous peoples.In Central Africa, the great majority of indigenous Batwa and Baka have not had access even to primary education. In South Asia, Dalit girls are prevented from pursuing their education not just because of poverty, but through discrimination and sexual violence. In many countries in Europe, Roma children continue to be placed in segregated classes or in special schools for those with learning disabilities, just because of their ethnicity. In Latin America, millions of indigenous and African descendant children, instead of being in school, work in fields and plantations, in the mines, or at home.In a unique collaboration with UNICEF, Minority Rights Group International reports on what minority and indigenous children around the world face in their struggle to learn. State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2009 profiles the programmes that are being developed to help them – from better bilingual education to meeting the needs of nomadic populations – giving examples of what works and why. It describes efforts to overcome exclusion so that education is available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable for minorities and indigenous peoples, and shows how far there is still to go.It includes: - An analysis of available statistics that show that minorities and indigenous peoples are the most likely to suffer discrimination and exclusion in education worldwide. - First-hand accounts of the difficulties and challenges facing minority and indigenous children in every major world region. - Coverage of the key issues for promoting the right to education, including overcoming the double discrimination faced by minority and indigenous girls, the need to collect data by ethnicity, and the importance of bilingual or plurilingual education. - A unique statistical analysis and ranking of Peoples under Threat 2009. State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples is an invaluable reference for policy makers, academics, journalists and everyone who is interested in the conditions facing minorities and indigenous peoples around the world.
In almost every country in the world, minorities and indigenous peoples suffer greater ill-health and receive poorer quality of care than other segments of the population. They die younger, face higher rates of disease and struggle more to access health services compared to the rest of the population. This year's edition of State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples presents a global picture of the health issues experienced by minorities and indegenous communities, features country profiles and case studies, and makes recommendations for addressing these key issues.
In the year that saw the establishment of UN Women, the new United Nations entity for gender equality and women’s empowerment, minority and indigenous women continued to face violence, discrimination and marginalization, stemming both from their identity as women and as members of disadvantaged minority groups. In Latin America, despite the election of women as heads of state in several countries, African descendant and indigenous women remain virtually invisible in public and political life. They are also the population group that has borne the brunt of armed conflict in the region, subjected to rape and sexual violence. As elsewhere, they have little hope of redress against those who assaulted them. In Europe and Oceania, migrant women face economic and social marginalization, and are often unable to access support services because of their immigration status, leaving them trapped in abusive relationships. In 2010, women belonging to Muslim minorities in the global North choosing to wear the face veil also faced increasing pressure, with bans under discussion in many countries. In the Middle East and Africa, minority and indigenous women continue to be subjected to religious and customary legal systems that deny them their rights, while Iraqi refugee women (many of whom belong to religious minorities) elsewhere in the Middle East are increasingly vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation. In Asia, sexual violence against women has again been used as a weapon against minority women, while land seizures are resulting in further economic marginalization of indigenous groups. This year’s edition of State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples presents an overview of the situation of minority and indigenous women today, and includes: - Discussions of gender-based violence and armed conflict, including the violence that indigenous and minority women experience within their own communities, and the difficulties that they face in accessing justice and support from outside. - Consideration of the lack of progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals for minority and indigenous women, with special focus on reproductive rights and maternal mortality. - Interviews and special reports on trafficking, intersectional discrimination, land seizures and women’s political representation. - Overviews of the human rights situation of minorities and indigenous peoples in every major world region. - ‘Peoples Under Threat 2011’ – MRG’s unique statistical analysis and ranking of countries. An invaluable reference for policy makers, academics, journalists and everyone who is interested in the human rights situation of minorities and indigenous peoples around the world.
A decade into the new century sees religious minorities confronting serious violations of their rights around the globe. Following the violent attacks of 11 September 2001, governments of every political hue have used “war on terror” rhetoric to justify the repression of religious communities. Other religious minorities have faced a violent backlash, often unjustly accused of siding with belligerents. In Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, armed conflict and land seizures have forced minority and indigenous communities away from locations central to their religious beliefs. Europe has witnessed gains by extreme right-wing political parties which are targeting religious minorities with their inflammatory language. In Central Asia, governments have introduced tough new registration requirements for religious communities and prevented the building of places of worship. In State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2010, Minority Rights Group International offers a comprehensive overview of the situation faced by minorities in a world increasingly divided along religious lines. It includes: - An analysis of government initiatives that contribute to the marginalisation of religious minorities, such as religious profiling and registration laws. - First-hand accounts, from around the world, of the discrimination and exclusion faced by those belonging to minorities who wish to exercise their right to freedom of religion and belief. - An exploration of grassroots efforts through interfaith dialogue to ease tensions, overcome conflicts, and promote peaceful and equitable development. - An overview of the human rights situation of minorities and indigenous peoples in every major world region. - The unique statistical ranking and analysis, Peoples under Threat 2010. An invaluable reference for policy makers, academics, journalists and everyone who is interested in the human rights situation of minorities and indigenous peoples around the world.
This open access book presents a discussion on human rights-based attributes for each article pertinent to the substantive rights of children, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It provides the reader with a unique and clear overview of the scope and core content of the articles, together with an analysis of the latest jurisprudence of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. For each article of the UNCRC, the authors explore the nature and scope of corresponding State obligations, and identify the main features that need to be taken into consideration when assessing a State’s progressive implementation of the UNCRC. This analysis considers which aspects of a given right are most important to track, in order to monitor States' implementation of any given right, and whether there is any resultant change in the lives of children. This approach transforms the narrative of legal international standards concerning a given right into a set of characteristics that ensure no aspect of said right is overlooked. The book develops a clear and comprehensive understanding of the UNCRC that can be used as an introduction to the rights and principles it contains, and to identify directions for future policy and strategy development in compliance with the UNCRC. As such, it offers an invaluable reference guide for researchers and students in the field of childhood and children’s rights studies, as well as a wide range of professionals and organisations concerned with the subject.
Across the world, minorities and indigenous peoples are disproportionately exposed to hatred. From intimidation and verbal abuse to targeted violence and mass killing, this hatred often reflects and reinforces existing patterns of exclusion. The impacts also extend beyond the immediate effects on individual victims to affect entire communities - in the process further marginalizing them from basic services, participation and other rights. This year's edition of State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples highlights how hate speech and hate crime, though frequently unreported or unacknowledged, continue to impact on every aspect of their lives. The volume also documents many of the initiatives being taken to promote positive change and the different ways that governments, civil society and communities can strengthen protections for minorities and indigenous peoples. An exploration of key issues such as hate crime and hate speech, as well as ways to counter their prevalence. The dynamics of targeted attacks and hate speech in conflict situations, as well as the particular vulnerability of minority and indigenous women. A global examination of the legal standards in the area of hate crime legislation. Interviews and case studies from minorities and indigenous communities, including examples of grassroots organizations working to improve their protection and representation. Overviews of the human rights context for minorities and indigenous peoples in every major world region. Peoples under Threat 2014 - MRG's unique statistical analysis and ranking of the vulnerability of minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide. An invaluable reference for policy makers, academics, journalists and everyone who is interested in the human rights situation of minorities and indigenous peoples around the world.
In a context of rapid growth, an increasing proportion of minorities and indigenous peoples are now living in urban areas. But while they offer the possibility of greater freedoms, improved livelihoods and more equitable opportunities, cities often magnify existing patterns of discrimination and insecurity. This year's edition of State of the world's minorities and indigenous peoples explores the many challenges communities face in urban areas, from segregation and lack of services to targeted violence and exclusion. Nevertheless, the volume also includes numerous cases of minorities and indigenous peoples achieving better social and political outcomes for themselves in cities, as well as examples of the substantial benefits their inclusion can bring to the entire urban population.
Natural resource development projects such as logging and dams, oil and mineral extraction and large-scale agriculture have been successful in generating vast revenues across the globe. But at what cost to minorities and indigenous peoples?In its flagship annual publication, State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012, MRG documents hundreds of case studies about marginalized groups who have been adversely affected by exploitation of the resources found on, or under, their ancestral lands. It also considers land rights around the world.
The United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Right to Development in 1986. The Declaration recognizes that development is an inalienable human right, and describes development as a comprehensive process leading to the well-being of all people. All states are called upon to cooperate internationally and work nationally to ensure that this comprehensive process in which all human rights can be realized is undertaken without discrimination, and that all people may participate fully and equally in this process. This paper provides an elaboration of the content of the right to development by drawing on international law. It addresses the obligations of states, particularly with regard to international cooperation, and considers the application of obligations of conduct, as well as those of result, in giving this right meaning. This paper also details the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and how they relate to the right to development. The creation of conditions that enable a state to develop will not necessarily lead to the realization of the right to development by the individuals within that state. Traditionally marginalized groups – notably, minorities and indigenous peoples – may not benefit from this development or may be harmed by it. Even where the right to development is being realized by the majority, the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples could be violated if the process undertaken does not take account of their rights. The authors discuss the need to have in place the standards to ensure that the protection and promotion of minority and indigenous rights are fully integrated into policies designed to fulfil the right to development. Written in cooperation with the UN Independent Expert on the right to development, this work builds on his contribution to the mandated objectives of the inter-state UN Working Group on the Right to Development. It provides an important contribution to the scope of rights and obligations in this area, and the implications that stem from them, particularly for minorities and indigenous peoples.
