The world’s indigenous peoples are making themselves heard in international arenas, and at the national level, where their growing mobilisation is translating into political muscle. But many challenges remain in the fight for recognition of all their rights.

IPS LAUNCHES YEAR OF REPORTING ON THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

Ten years ago the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre burst onto the world stage giving social movements and civil society the space to challenge the orthodoxies symbolised by the World Economic Forum. Visit the IPS TerraViva World Social Forum 2010 site for independent news, analysis and commentary on up to 35 WSF events that will take place on every continent in 2010. What are the continuing challenges that drive social movements, and will the WSF stay relevant and innovative? Read IPS TerraViva to find out.
www.ips.org/TV/wsf2010/

PERU: Victims of Military Rapists Wait for Justice 25 Years On
By Ángel Páez
LIMA (IPS) – “I want justice. That will be a kind of peace,” says Micaela, a 40-year-old woman from the Andean region of Peru who is a survivor of the sexual violence prevalent during the 1980-2000 civil war. Twenty-five years ago, soldiers assaulted her at a military base and in her own home.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50045

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RIGHTS: U.N. Condemns Land Grabs in Native Territories
By Haider Rizvi
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Millions of people around the world who belong to indigenous communities continue to face discrimination and abuse at the hands of authorities and private business concerns, says a new U.N. report released here Thursday.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49986

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MALAYSIA: Sarawak Dams: Boon or Bane of Development?
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR (IPS) – “I don?t know what’s going to happen to our people
what our future will be?”
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50005

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BRAZIL: ‘Colonisation Made Us Poor,’ Say Indigenous Peoples
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO (IPS) – “We weren’t poor until colonisation made us poor,” indigenous leader Marcos Terena said at the Rio de Janeiro launch of a United Nations report on the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49999

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INDIA: Stalled Korean Mining Operations Face Fresh Protests
By Keya Acharya
NEW DELHI (IPS) – The Indian government?s grant of the final environmental clearance to a Korean giant firm, allowing it to acquire 3,000 acres of ?forest lands? in the eastern state of Orissa, has prompted a fresh spate of protests from more than 4,000 families that will be affected by a proposed mining project.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50054

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BOLIVIA: More Women in Parliament, With Their Own Agenda
By Franz Chávez
LA PAZ (IPS) – An unprecedented 28 percent of seats in Bolivia’s new parliament will soon be occupied by women. Female lawmakers have already launched a battle for women to serve in half the posts in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50052

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U.S.: Community in Crisis Looks to its Agricultural Roots
By Kyra Ryan
TAOS, New Mexico (IPS) – Renowned for its historic Native American pueblo, cultural ties to Spain, bohemian artists, and world-class ski resort, Taos is also one of the many communities in the U.S. facing food insecurity.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49981

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Q&A: Bolivian Women?s Right to Land Thwarted by Patriarchal Traditions
Franz Chávez interviews land reform consultant GABY GÓMEZ-GARCÍA
LA PAZ (IPS) – Bolivian legislation on land ownership is highly favourable to women, but a lack of awareness makes it difficult to enforce these laws and ensure that women are able to obtain – and maintain – control of the land they farm.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49967

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DEVELOPMENT-CAMBODIA: Minority Languages Face Extinction
By Robert Carmichael
PHNOM PENH (IPS) – One of Cambodia?s oldest languages ? S?aoch ? appears headed for extinction in the next decade. Other languages spoken by its minority people are lining up to take the place of the 6,000-year-old language in the most endangered category.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49958

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THAILAND: With Hmong Expulsion, Army Asserts Foreign Policy Role
Analysis by Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK (IPS) – The recent deportation of Hmong asylum seekers to Laos has shown that Thailand?s powerful military remains the dominant player in shaping the relationship between this South-east Asian kingdom and its immediate neighbours.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49894

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IPS wants to redress a huge imbalance that exists today: Only about 22 percent of the voices you hear and read in the news are women?s. You can change your perspective – Read the new IPS Gender Wire.
ipsnews.net/_newsletter/genderwire.asp

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DON’T MISS IPS EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF WOMEN IN THE NEWS.

Elections, health, education, armed conflicts, corruption, laws, trade, climate change, the global financial and food crises, and natural disasters – IPS covers these frontline issues asking an often forgotten question: What does it mean for women and girls?
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/women/index.asp

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DON’T MISS IPS SPECIAL COVERAGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.

Through coverage of issues like food security, extractive industries, biodiversity and climate change, IPS is giving a voice to people whose stories are seldom heard. IPS is also highlighting the various challenges they face in the globalised world: health and food insecurity, environment degradation and poverty.
www.ipsnews.net/environment.asp

You’ll find more IPS indigenous news and links at: ipsnews.net/new_focus/indigenous_peoples/

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IPS focuses its news coverage on the events and global processes affecting the economic, social and political development of peoples and nations.

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