Discrimination against minorities and indigenous peoples will undermine the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

22 March 2002

Chair,

Discrimination against minorities and indigenous peoples in the realization of the right to development will undermine the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

For the first time in 2001, the Commission on Human Rights recognised that “special attention” should be given to persons belonging to minorities and to indigenous people in the process of the realisation of the right to development (Resolution 2001/9, paragraph 16). Minority Rights Group International (MRG) commends the Commission for this statement. But more work remains to be done. Most importantly, the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples to participate in and to benefit equally from development needs to be respected by States. This is fundamental to the realisation of the right to development.

Chair,

The high levels of poverty amongst minorities and indigenous peoples must be addressed. The Millennium Development Goals can be useful in this regard. They represent one of the most important steps in recent years towards the realization of the right to development. From a minority and indigenous rights perspective, however, the goals are seriously flawed. It is possible to achieve all of the Millennium Development Goals without impacting positively on the lives of minorities and indigenous peoples, and policy makers are not taking this into account

States may divert resources to achieve the goals, enabling the more visible and politically influential majority groups to achieve the goals, whilst the situation of minorities and indigenous peoples is allowed to deteriorate further or is ignored. No safeguards have been built into the goals to prevent this from occurring. For example, there is no requirement to measure progress towards the goals through disaggregated data for minority or indigenous groups.

There is also no guidance on how to achieve the goals. Governments and development agencies could adopt policies that are not compatible with international human rights standards and the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples.

For example, the goal of achieving ‘universal primary education’ by 2015 could be met, while minority and indigenous children find themselves disadvantaged by an education system that is not available in their mother tongue; that under-resources schools in their communities; or that perpetuates discriminatory attitudes towards them. Or the goal of universal primary education itself may not be reached if minorities and indigenous peoples feel that the educational prescription is not relevant to their values and lifestyles, choosing instead to boycott the formal educational process.

Similarly, the goal for reducing maternal mortality rates may not succeed if minority women continue to be discriminated against in the provision of health services. Or a reduction by two-thirds of infant mortality could be achieved, with the remaining one-third of children being mostly from indigenous groups because no effort has been made to improve access to health care, clean water or adequate housing in their communities.

States need to rethink urgently their strategies for achieving the Goals. While most, if not all, of the Millennium Development Goals could be met in the short term without including minorities or indigenous peoples, these achievements would not be sustainable. The persistent or increased inequality, discrimination, and exclusion of minorities and indigenous peoples could lead to local or widespread conflict. This conflict would undermine or destroy both the physical and social developments that have been secured through the Goals.

Chair,

States and development agencies need to bear the following points in mind in reforming their plans to achieve the Millennium Development Goals:

- Discrimination against minorities and indigenous peoples is the single most important barrier to their full human development. No development policy can effectively reduce inequalities between communities if it does not tackle discrimination. The recent World Conference Against Racism reaffirmed this fact in the Declaration and Programme of Action.*

- The first step in redressing discrimination is recognising that minorities and indigenous peoples exist. Many governments are not prepared to do this. International law, however, clearly prescribes that states must protect the existence and identities of minorities and indigenous peoples within their territories and respect fully their rights.

- Minorities and indigenous peoples have a right to participate in the design, implementation and evaluation of development polices and programmes that affect them. Indigenous peoples in particular have the right to determine their own priorities for development. This not only ensures more effective development strategies, it also ensures equality and justice in the realisation of the right to development.

- Greater efforts need to be taken to assess the potential impact of proposed development activities on minorities and indigenous peoples. Too often plans for improving the overall development of a State may systematically exclude or harm distinct minority or indigenous groups, which is in violation of their rights and can have serious implications for peace and stability.

Chair,

In order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals - and to achieve them without harming minorities or indigenous peoples - Minority Rights Group International recommends that States take the following steps:

1. Recognise those minorities and indigenous peoples that exist within their territories;

2. Acknowledge that discrimination against these groups is a key factor in the perpetuation of their exclusion from the benefits of development;

3. Ensure the participation of minorities and indigenous peoples in the articulation of policies and programmes to achieve the Millennium Development Goals;

4. Monitor the impact of policies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals on minorities and indigenous peoples, including through the collection of disaggregated data;

5. Undertake to strengthen the capacity of governmental authorities and minority and indigenous communities to engage with one another to improve development activities;

6. Respect the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples in all stages of the development process.

MRG also recommends:

1. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant UN agencies integrate the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples into their work programme for realising the right to development.

2. The Independent Expert on the Right to Development gives consideration to minority and indigenous rights in future reports.

3. The UN World Summit on Sustainable Development recognise the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples in all stages of the development process and recognise their vital contribution to ensuring sustainable development for all.

Thank you for your attention.

Delivered by: Margot Salomon

* See, for example, paragraph 18, 78 of the Declaration; and paragraph 176, 190 of the Programme of Action.