First Commemorative Event of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls
High-level Events
Date: 9 September 2026
Language: English
Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/asset/k1w/k1wlibjsjy
Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations.

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IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [0:04]:

Hello, good morning, Jorle, everyone. We apologize for the delay. I think we are dealing with some technical issues and some logistical challenges as well. Thank you for your patience. Jorle, once again, Excellencies, distinguished representatives of member states. Colleagues from UN, United Nations, indigenous leaders, our indigenous women leaders who have traveled from different parts of the world, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this historic first commemoration of the International Day of Indigenous Women and Girls. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge that we are gathered here on the ancestral homelands of Lenape peoples. and Lenapehoking, where the United Nations headquarters stands today. We honor the enduring relationship of the Lenape people and contributions with these lands and water, and recognize the continued presence, leadership, knowledge, and contributions of indigenous peoples in New York and around the globe. We offer this acknowledgement with respect and with the commitment to advancing the rights, self-determination, and leadership of indigenous peoples. Today marks a significant moment in the international recognition of indigenous women and girls. The International Day of World's Indigenous Women and Girls, observed annually on 5th September, was established by United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/80/10 adopted on 26 November 2025. The first commemoration co-convened by United UN Women in partnership with International Indigenous Women's Forum, FIMI, with the support from Permanent Mission of Canada and Permanent Mission of Mexico. We thank you so much for this collaboration and partnership. You must have received flowers, some fruits with you, so that signifies the blessings from our ancestor as we are getting their blessings and energy to have this gathering as successful. So we are here to honor our ancestors and elders whose strengths, wisdom, and spirit live on through us. We welcome their energy to this gathering and ask for healing, connection, and energy. My name is Chandak Hapa Mogar. I am indigenous, Mogar indigenous peoples from Nepal and program director at International Funders for Indigenous Peoples, IFIP, which is a global network of funders We've been advocating for direct funding for indigenous peoples for the last 25 years, centering around indigenous peoples' rights and self-determination. It is a great honor to serve as your master of ceremony of this very, very historic occasion. Before we proceed, I'd also like to acknowledge the devastating tragedy unfolding in Nepal, where I come from. Sorry. It's definitely an emotional moment for all of us. Our thoughts and also prayers are with those who have lost their lives and those who are still waiting for their loved ones to be returning home. There are more than 5,000 still missing. The tragedy is also a stark reminder. It's not only Nepal, it's the whole world that has been suffering from climate change. So this is just a reminder for us that climate crisis is not stark or abstract. Across the world, Indigenous peoples, particularly Indigenous women and girls, are often on the front line of its impact. So that's why we have been demanding, we have been advocating for collaboration, our role in the decision-making processes We don't want charity, we want climate justice. So we want you all to also stand in solidarity, but we are very much grateful for everyone who had stood by us and supported us throughout this whole tragic event. Before we begin, just a few brief housekeeping announcements. Interpretation will be available in English and Spanish, so for English, there is number one, and Spanish, number four. If you have any technical issues, we have UN Women team members here, colleagues, and also from Hifumi to reach out to them. And this event is also being live streamed on UN Web TV. So we have also speakers joining us remotely, so please allow some moment for transition to and from the online connection. And I'll also kindly request you to keep your mobile phones on silent. We are so honored to have indigenous women leaders, member state representatives, UN officials, and partners, colleagues joining us from different regions and institutions. Thank you all for being part of this historic first commemoration. So now it's my pleasure to invite our speakers for the opening remarks. With great pleasure, I'd like to welcome Yara Yai Gumbo Fanda, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women to deliver the opening remarks on behalf of UN Women. Sorry? Oh. Video. Okay. It's a video message. Sorry.


UN Women · Deputy Executive Director · Yara Yai Gumbo Fanda [6:08]:

Indigenous women. young women, leaders, excellencies, colleagues and friends. Today we make history. For the very first time, the international community comes together to commemorate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls. This is both a celebration and a long overdue recognition of the leadership, the resilience, and the rights of indigenous women and girls worldwide. I want to thank Mexico and Canada for your generous co-sponsorship of this first commemoration of the International Indigenous Women's Forum and the Ford Foundation for your support, which helped bring so many indigenous women leaders here with us today. Across generations, Indigenous women and girls have safeguarded cultures, languages, and ancestral wisdom. They are leaders in environmental stewardship, biodiversity protection, and sustainable development. But this day is not only about recognition. It is a call to action. Indigenous women and girls continue to face intersecting forms of discrimination rooted in gender inequality, in racism, in colonialism, in socioeconomic exclusion, limiting their access to education, to health care, and to justice. UN Women stands firmly with indigenous women and girls. Lifting the rights, the voice, and the leadership of indigenous and rural women is a firm commitment of our current strategic plan, including the intersection of gender and climate justice, where their leadership is most needed and too often least resourced. Global funding cuts are placing women and girls at greater risk. And in regions facing worsening droughts, wildfires, and floods, indigenous and rural communities, and indigenous women in particular, often bear the brunt of the damage. And yet, time and again, indigenous women sustain local economies and build resilience. This is especially resonant in 2026. the International Year of the Women Farmer, we spotlight the millions of women whose knowledge sustains food system and protects biodiversity. Their leadership comes at a cost. Women environmental human rights defenders, many of them indigenous, face gender-based violence, targeted not only as defenders of land and rights, but as women who defy discriminatory norms. We must guarantee indigenous women's full and equal and safe participation in decision making at every level through their own representative institutions. We must invest in their leadership and ensure direct flexible and culturally appropriate financing for Indigenous women's organizations. And we must advance a holistic approach to justice that removes the barriers preventing them from fully exercising their rights. The outcomes of CSW70 provide an important roadmap, calling for stronger access to justice And survivor-centered responses to violence, CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 39, further advances this agenda, affirming the individual and collective rights of Indigenous women and girls and their rights to participation, justice, land, territories, and resources. Let us center their voices. Let us invest in their leadership. Let us build a future in which all indigenous women and girls can live with equality, dignity, justice, and freedom. When indigenous women and girls lead, gender equality advances, communities flourish, humanity move forward, for this is the essence of the United Nations Charter, which starts with "We, the people." Thank you.


IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [11:00]:

Thank you so much for that powerful message, for those important reflections and reaffirming the importance of indigenous women and girls within the global gender equality agenda. Now, I'd like to invite Sarah Douglas, Deputy Regional Director for Americas and the Caribbean, UN Women. The floor is yours.


UN Women · Deputy Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean · Sarah Douglas [11:24]:

Thank you so much. Dear Excellencies, Indigenous women leaders, colleagues from the UN system, member states, partners, friends, and all those joining today in person and online, good morning. And I would also like to add my recognition to the Lenape people, as well as Indigenous women who are affected by the recent disasters in Nepal, Venezuela, Colombia, and elsewhere. It's an honor today to invite you to welcome you to this first commemorative event of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls. Today, we make history. For the very first time, the international community comes together to commemorate this day. I'd like to thank Mexico and Canada for their generous co-sponsorship of today, as well as the International Indigenous Women's Forum and the Ford Foundation for their support, which has helped bring so many of us here today. The International Day of Indigenous Women, commemorated every 5th of September, was established in 1983 in Bolivia in honor of Bartolina Sisa, an Aymara woman and a symbol of resistance, leadership, and struggle against colonial oppression. Her legacy reminds us that the history of indigenous women is a history of dignity, organization, defense of peoples, and affirmation of rights. Today, speaking about Indigenous women and girls means speaking about effective participation, intercultural justice, community leadership, the protection of territories, and the transmission of cultures and knowledge that enrich our societies profoundly. It also means recognizing a deep paradox. Indigenous women sustain communities, care for territories, preserve languages, produce knowledge, defend rights, and transform realities. Yet they often do so while facing structural discrimination, racism, violence, economic exclusion, and barriers to justice, health, education, land, natural resources, and decision-making spaces. And yet time and again, indigenous women sustain local economies and build resilience. This is especially resonant in 2026, the International Year of the Women Farmer. which spotlights the millions of women whose knowledge sustains food systems and protects biodiversity. Latin America and the Caribbean has also built over almost five decades a deep, cumulative, and transformative regional gender equality agenda. The Tratado Local commitment opens up a decade of action to accelerate substantive equality and the care society. And that care society must also recognize the community, territorial, spiritual, and environmental care sustained by many Indigenous women, as well as their own forms of organization, knowledge, and leadership. Advancing the rights of Indigenous women and girls, therefore, requires action in at least five directions. First, guaranteeing their full, effective, and meaningful participation in all decision-making spaces that affect their lives, communities, and territories. Second, ensuring access to justice with cultural, linguistic, and territorial relevance, including recognition of plural legal systems and protection from all forms of violence. Third, protecting their rights to land, territories, natural resources, water, seeds, biodiversity, and a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Fourth, guaranteeing health, education, social protection, and care services with intercultural, intergenerational, territorial, and human rights-based approaches. And lastly, producing and using better disaggregated and intersectional data that make visible their realities, contributions, and demands, while respecting their voices, priorities, and ways of knowing. This agenda demands alliances. Let today's gathering inspire us to move from commitments to practice, from policies to budgets, and from budgets to concrete changes in the lives of Indigenous women and girls. Because when rights advance, justice advances, democracy advances, and equality advances. Thank you so much.


IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [16:04]:

Thank you so much, Sarah, for your opening remarks and also joining us in this important commemoration. Now it's my honor to invite Teresa Zapeta, Executive Director of the International Indigenous Women's Forum, we know as FIMI, to share her opening reflections.


FIMI · Executive Director · Teresa Zapeta [16:26]:

Thank you, Chanda.

Thank you very much to all of you. A very good morning. I'd like to thank the universe for giving us the opportunity to celebrate for the first time at the global level, the International Day for World's Indigenous Women and Girls. This is no, this isn't just any old day. For indigenous women, it's a very relevant day. And I want to begin by applauding the energy of all of our ancestors who came before us and who opened the way to ensure that this day would be possible for many of us. Decades have gone by where Indigenous people through their silence, uh, and in their anonym anonymity have been fighting for this. We obviously pay tribute to our dear sister, Bartolina Sisa, who we weren't personally, uh, uh, in contact with, but her struggle is now a s- a symbol for the world. And for, but it, indigenous women in Bolivia in particular, and we know that her spirit and her energy remain with us, and many Bartolina Sisas are with us from all of the communities from various parts of the world. I'd also like to greet the women, young women, women with disabilities, and girls who all currently working within their countries, facing particular situations due to climate change, fighting for territory, for land, silent violence within their communities, within their violence. For all of these sisters, that is why we are here today to commemorate them, to celebrate them. for all of our sisters who are working, struggling, but also contributing, dreaming and speaking up from the grassroots level up to the global level and vice versa. I would like to greet all of the women, children and young people and pay tribute to all of those who don't yet have a voice. All of those who are in situations where inequalities, racism, violence having an impact on their life. And perhaps for many of us meeting here and those following us online might not be able to imagine that there are still so many women and children who continue to have to lack even the most basic facilities, even an ID document, just a piece of paper. It seems unimportant. However, it is the first step for the exercise of rights. So starting there, I'd like to raise the commitment of the International Indigenous Women's Forum and our partners to continue to work to recognize the fact that every indigenous woman, young person and child is a rights holder, a rights bearer, both individual and collective rights. Collective rights means our languages, our history, our land and our right to self-determination. So today we feel honoured, we feel moved because this is a hopeful day. It's a day when we can say, yes, you can, but we can do that together. So today I want to go. beyond this mere reflection and this feeling of victimization. While inequalities have an impact on us and we are a victim of these inequalities, above all, we are agents of change. Even in the midst of all of these inequalities, so many indigenous women continue to work along the path for development within their areas, and that is why we are here today. We are here to honor them, to align ourselves with them, and on that basis and from now on to step up our efforts as we look ahead. So thank you for joining us on this path, and thank you for everyone here joining us. Thanks.


IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [21:09]:

So much, Teresa, for grounding us, this commemoration in the leadership, experience, and priorities of Indigenous women. Thank you so much. Now, we are very much pleased to have government of Mexico as co-sponsor of this historic commemoration. It is now my pleasure to invite Her Excellency, Jennifer Feller Enriquez, Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to deliver her opening remarks, Your Excellency.


Mexico · Deputy Permanent Representative · Jennifer Feller Enriquez [21:48]:

Thank you very much. Well, for Mexico, obviously, it's an enormous honor and privilege to be here at this first commemoration of the International Day of World's Indigenous Women and Girls. My profound condolences, Jana, following the tragedy in Nepal. And in this context, and specifically because that doesn't only It's not an isolated event, unfortunately. It is the importance of states working so closely with the heads of indigenous communities is so important to be able to empower them along this path. because as was already mentioned, this has taken decades, we've overcome numerous obstacles. I was just talking in the corridors with some of you and I, 20 years ago, actually, I was saying that I was here negotiating the UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. And at that time, We were already facing very difficult obstacles. It was very hard to make progress in the recognition of rights, not only of indigenous communities, but we were also very far from recognizing the specific rights of women, indigenous women and girls. So this is something that has raised in profile, but it doesn't mean that women and girls from indigenous groups don't continue to face obstacles. and also constant questioning with regard to indigenous peoples, indigenous women and girls as rights holders and as the owners of their own destiny. In Mexico, recognizing that contributes to progress and development within our country. I wanted to start by thanking the Permanent Mission of Canada, my colleagues from other countries joining me today, also the agencies and organizations that are here with us, obviously the Ford Foundation for its contribution to this event, and I'd particularly like to express my thanks to the Indigenous women joining us today. Their leadership, their experience, and their knowledge need to be at the heart of this commemorative day and this discussion. not only for the reasons that I already mentioned, have already been mentioned for their role in supporting the environment, et cetera, but also as the transmitters and bearers of knowledge. Earlier, we were talking about the commitment of the Tlatelolco Treaty. Obviously, Mexico, through this commitment that was adopted last year, has been trying to raise the profile of the importance of strengthening the care economy as a part of an effort to advance the rights of women and girls and also indigenous communities. These are all at the heart of this debate. So we also welcome the fact that this is a commemoration of the leadership of these women and girls who look after their land, their territory, their families, and also protect their rights. But it's also a forum where I think it's very important to once again, shine a spotlight on the importance of implementing and raising the profile of General Recommendation 39 of CEDAW's recommendation, and also the importance of continuing to think about the right follow-up mechanisms for the content of that very important recommendation. The rights of women, of indigenous peoples, of indigenous women and children are not a concession. They're not a favor that we're doing to them. I think that we need to move away from this paternalist view. States are obliged to guarantee that all indigenous women and children, girls, can be aware of their rights, can participate in decisions that affect their lives and their communities. I'm not going to list all of the persistent barriers. Several of the speakers have already mentioned several of them, obviously poverty, inequality, racial discrimination. When we talk about women's diversity, regrettably, often this debate becomes politicized. It focuses on issues. that lose sight of the overall part of this view of the fact that there is an intersecting diversity that intersects with other forms of discrimination, disabled women, older women, women living in rural or remote areas with low resources, et cetera. The recent report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples reminds us that violations to sexual and reproductive health and the right and the health of indigenous women aren't only confined to the past. Reproductive coercion, obstetric violence, the lack of informed consent, and obstacles to accessing culturally appropriate health services continue to affect women and girls all over the world in all communities. These violations demand truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-repetition. I'll conclude by saying that for Mexico, access to justice, in addition to being seen as an essential public service, for us, well, it wasn't just yesterday, but it was actually last year, we adopted a constitutional reform that grants our indigenous people's rights sees them as rights holders. It allows us to strengthen our institutions to ensure that we allocate sufficient sustainable resources. We've also set up indigenous and Afro-Mexican houses to ensure that they can come out with solutions developed within communities themselves. And we are very happy to hear experiences from other countries and other communities to see how we can continue to build and strengthen our good practices. We reaffirm Mexico's commitment to continue working with you, with member states, to strengthen these partnerships. We hope that today we will be able to make further progress on this very important area. Thank you very much.


IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [29:11]:

Thank you, Your Excellency, for your remarks, and also thankful for the continued support and commitment to Indigenous women's rights. Now we here in the first session with the opening remarks, and then we move to dialogue with indigenous women leaders, which will be more bringing the lived experiences of indigenous women, leaders from different regions to reflect on some of the issues at the heart of this commemoration, access to justice, protection of rights, which our speakers earlier also mentioned. meaningful participation, accountability, and the persistent gaps between international commitments and the implementation on the ground. To guide this important conversation, I would like to welcome Bjorg Sankar, Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN DESA. So yes, the floor is yours, Bjorn. Thank you.


UN DESA · Assistant Secretary-General · Bjorg Sankar [31:08]:

So, I think as we are rearranging the podium, let me also invite the panelists to join us for a dialogue of important women indigenous leaders. Women who have built and sustained the networks, organizations, and advocacy that carry indigenous women's voices from the local to the international level. So let me briefly introduce the four extraordinary leaders that will be joining us today. On the podium, we have Ms. Edna Kaptoyo, who is a member of the African Indigenous Women's Network with more than 15 years of experience advancing Indigenous peoples' rights and self-determined development, who also serves as grant-making and partnerships officer at the Pauanka Fund. Welcome. I'll continue with the introductions. We also have Ms. Vilisi Ratukalu from Fiji, a dedicated social development consultant with the World Bank, passionate about serving Pacifica communities with extensive experience in community engagement across Fiji. Vilisi observes a transformative shift in values from communal to individual motivations. Eager to deepen their understanding of Pacifica identity, Vilisi approaches the upcoming course as a vital opportunity to realign perspectives on development, focusing on genuine growth and support for our communities. We also have Dr. Rosalie Gonzalez, Regional Coordinator for North America of the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas and Executive Director of PLUME, who brings more than 25 years of experience working within the UN system, including as the first woman senior indigenous fellow at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. And last, but certainly not least, Ms. Patricia Torres, continental coordinator of the same network, a lawyer, and lifelong advocate who has carried the voice of indigenous women from her community in Mituacan, Mexico, to international forums, including the OAS and the United Nations. Do we have the panelists? I'll wait for the panelists to be seated. Yes, we want the right names on the right people, absolutely. Thank you. Well, it's great to have all four of you here, and I really look forward to the dialogue that we will be having this morning. Now, unfortunately, one of my roles as moderator is also to try to keep us to time. So I know that you've been asked to spend about four or five minutes for the, to introduce your remarks, and I would just like to request that we stick within that time so that we can hear from all of you and hear your reflections. So let me start with Ms. Kaptuyo. As a leader within the African Indigenous Women's Network, what does it take to build and sustain indigenous women's leadership at the community and regional levels, and what more must the international community do to recognize and invest in that leadership?


Pawanka Fund · Grant-making and Partnerships Officer · Edna Kaptoyo [34:58]:

Greetings and thank you for having me in this conversation. From African indigenous women's perspective, I've seen from my community and other communities I've interacted with. Is it fine? From Africa indigenous women's perspective, and also from other communities I've interacted with, indigenous women have always led and leadership already exists. It's whether we are working to build climate resilience, whether we are strengthening our food systems, our local economies, whether we are defending our lands and natural resources, whether it's working towards peace building, because we work also in difficult contexts, or advancing justice within our communities and also all over. So leadership already exists, but still it remains invisible in a lot of formal institutions and structures. And that's where we have our biggest challenges as African indigenous women, the recognition of this leadership, our rights, but also how it can be resourced and strengthened. And What needs to be sustained, this kind of leadership that already exists within our community. There are a number of areas, of course, we have indigenous institutions like African Indigenous Women's Network that has already been existing where indigenous women have been organizing themselves really to address myriad of challenges. Now we have the poly crisis as well that we are facing. But first, I think leadership begins with really recognition of indigenous women's rights. their voice and also the agency they have, but also how these rights can also be exercised and the fact that you cannot separate really leadership and rights. They go hand in hand within our communities. And we've seen progress where leadership has been included in different structures. and systems, but these structures also need to recognize the already existing structures that indigenous women have continued to build and are still building. We have our movements from the local to national levels to global levels, and that also how we are socialized within our communities is important agency that needs to be recognized. And because this is rooted also in our self-determined development, in indigenous people's identity, it has community legacy. And these are all important aspects that need to be supported because rights to participate in decision making might be there, but then having access to those spaces is also important and needs to be supported by the international community. Another element is really investing in indigenous leadership, not only organizations, but also the pipeline and the ecosystems that help indigenous women leadership thrive, and also for our girls as well, and also ensuring inclusion, you know, of indigenous women with disabilities, you know, and other young women. And this is by supporting participation at different levels. And it requires investments, you know, a lot of investment, really not only to enable training, but also to help in terms of other aspects that indigenous women organizations are doing, like intergenerational strengthening, you know, and mentorship. There's a lot of work in the pipeline that organizations are doing to support that. that need to be sustained. And above all this, justice as well must be central to it, whether we are calling for justice in different aspect, um, um, and also, uh, we have a lot of laws existing in Africa. And in Africa, we have a lot of laws, but with these laws, how do they interact within our formal systems, you know, and also how do they really remain consistent with women's human rights and those of the girls? And as well, we have a gap in terms of accountability and implementation. So that is a big challenge as well. And so closing that gap requires really a lot of support from the international community, investment, really having direct access to resources for Indigenous women-led organization is important. So we need to partner and collaborate more. We need to listen to each other, share, and also support each other in terms of advancing this and also supporting work around data. Yeah, thank you, Sare Nyawo.


UN DESA · Assistant Secretary-General · Bjorg Sankar [40:02]:

Ms. Vilisi Ratu Kalu, and ask you, what does it take to ensure indigenous knowledge, territorial realities, and women's leadership are genuinely integrated into national policy?


World Bank · PIWN · Social Development Consultant · Vilisi Ratukalu [40:20]:

Thank you, Madam Moderator, and Bulavinaka, and warm greetings to everyone. I do apologize. I've just been given this task this morning over breakfast, so I'm still trying to process this at the moment. But I do acknowledge my women sisters in the Pacific region for all the tremendous work that they do in this very important space that we are in today. And I do acknowledge and pay my deep respects to the traditional leaders and custodians of the lands and homes that we represent here today. On behalf of the Pacific Indigenous Women's Network, PIWN, I want to ground my response in a fundamental truth. In the Pacific, indigenous women are not passive beneficiaries of policies. We are traditional knowledge holders, matriarchs, healers, economic providers, and the frontline stewards of our oceans and land. To answer what genuine policy integration takes, we must first recognize the political and territorial realities of the Pacific. First, most of our island nations operate under dual governance systems. We navigate an ongoing interaction between formal state legislation and deep-rooted customary law, from the fa'amatai system in Samoa to the mataqali land structures in Fiji. and traditional chieftainships across Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Women's leadership sits at the heart of these dual systems, maintaining social cohesion, care, and peace. Second, our territorial realities vary significantly across the region. While some Pacific nations operate sovereign independent states, others such as Guam, American Samoa, West Papua, and French Polynesia continue to navigate non-self-governing statuses or colonial ties. In places like Guam, indigenous Chamorro women advocate for self-determination and territorial rights under the heavy presence of militarization. Policy integration cannot be a one-size-fits-all. It must speak to all these distinct realities. So what does genuine integration actually look like? It requires anchoring national policy in four core Pacific principles. First, co-designing and relationality over transactional consultation. Land and oceans are our ancestral kin, not commodities. Integration requires moving past tokenistic consultations towards co-designing policy alongside indigenous women, respecting customary land management and traditional stewardship. Parity for indigenous knowledge systems. Matriarchal knowledge in climate resilience, traditional medicine, and resource management must be formally recognized alongside Western science in national planning and budgeting. Protecting and human security, we cannot integrate women's leadership if women are not safe. Fulfilling international commitments like UNDRIP and CEDAW means actively eliminating violence against women, whether from domestic abuse, workplace discrimination, or militarization. Intergenerational mentorship, nurturing the journeys that we that we are distinctly on. We must resource young Pacific indigenous women through structured mentorship, ensuring they are equipped to navigate both customary governance and modern statecraft. To close my statement this morning, integrated Pacific women's leadership into policy is not an administrative exercise. It is an act of restoring harmony and honoring ancestral governance. whether in independent island states or non-self-governing territories, when national policy respects our values, honors traditional knowledge, and centers Indigenous women, we secure resilient, self-determined futures for our region. Thank you so much, Naka.


UN DESA · Assistant Secretary-General · Bjorg Sankar [44:45]:

Thank you. Very short notice, and sharing those important perspectives and showing us what rooting policy in indigenous women's leadership can actually look like. So I would now like to turn to Ms. Patricia Torres to ask how has indigenous women's leadership across the Americas evolved over the years that you have led this network, and what do you see as the next frontier for that leadership?


ECMIA · Continental Coordinator · Patricia Torres [45:36]:

Guardians of these territories, we send our respectful greetings to the authorities, the representatives of the United Nations, Mexico and Canada in particular, as well as a special greeting to the Indigenous sisters from the seven sociocultural regions of the world. Today, we stand at a historic juncture. For the first time, we are officially commemorating the International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls at the United Nations. We have received this recognition as a result of decades of organization, perseverance, and collective action. Today is indeed a historic moment. And Fittingly, the theme for this commemoration expresses our reality. Indigenous women have always been leaders. Our leadership was born and continues to grow stronger within our communities and our territories. It is present in the women who transmit our languages and ancestral knowledge, in our authorities, midwives, healers, guardians of knowledge, in the defenders of Mother Earth, the farmers who sustain food sovereignty, and in the mothers, grandmothers, and young women who preserve the sciences, technologies, memory, and identity of our peoples. Over the past 40 years, this leadership has taken on greater political coordination. Indigenous women began building our own organizations, continental alliances, and international platforms to express our priorities in our own voice and to participate directly in decisions that affect our lives, our peoples, and our territories. Along this path, I would like to recognize the legacy of our Quechua sister, Tarsila Rivera Zearra. Her career embodies the strength, vision, and generosity of a generation of women who paved the way for women in the international stage. Her participation in Nairobi, Cairo, Beijing, Durban, and within United Nations mechanisms helped connect community realities to global agendas on human rights, gender equality, and the rights of indigenous peoples. Tarcila recognized early on that we needed our own continental network. And with that vision in mind, together with other women leaders from the Americas, she spearheaded the creation of the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas. In 1995, in Quito, Ecuador, on the eve of the Fourth World Conference on Women, ECMIA, or the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas, was established as the first autonomous continental network created and led by indigenous women. Since then, we have together walked together for more than 30 years, connecting organizations and leaders from North America, Central America, Caribbean, and South America. And today, we can proudly share the fruits of this history. ECMIA has strengthened organizations and has trained generations of women leaders. It has promoted the participation of indigenous women, youth, and girls. It has supported the development of national and regional agendas and has brought our proposals to the principal international fora for human rights, women's rights, sustainable development, and climate action. Our advocacy has contributed to advancing the prevention of and response to violence, political participation, economic justice, comprehensive health, sexual and reproductive rights, food security, the protection of territories, climate justice, and the sustainability of life in the 23 countries where we have a presence. We have also helped transform international representation. Today, Indigenous women participate as community authorities, parliamentarians, lawyers, anthropologists, communicators, negotiators in multilateral forums, and each of them brings with her the memory, voice, and aspirations of her people. This evolution allows us to look with hope towards the next frontier of our leadership, and that is to transform this recognition that we have achieved into the full and effective exercise of our rights. This means advancing towards participation with real decision-making power. It means guaranteeing our presence from the design all the way through to the evaluation of public policies, recognizing our own justice and governance systems, providing comprehensive protection for human rights defenders and defenders of Mother Earth, and ensuring direct, flexible, and sustainable funding for our organizations. At this new stage, CEDA General Recommendation No. 39 is a fundamental tool. its implementation. Its effective implementation can help us translate international commitments into policies, budgets, protection mechanisms, and concrete results in communities and territories. And we invite states and the UN system to promote its dissemination of implementation, monitoring, and evaluation with the full participation of indigenous women. The next And here is also an intergenerational one. ECMA has been taking an intergenerational approach from the beginning. We want indigenous girls and youth to grow up recognizing that their identity is a source of strength and that they can exercise their rights in their own languages, that they have access to education, technology, and decision-making spaces, and that they can develop their leadership in security, freedom, and pride. From EKMAM, we affirm that Indigenous women are political actors, rights holders, and builders of solutions to the great challenges of our time. Our knowledge, our worldviews, and community-based forms of organization offer indispensable contributions to peace, equality, climate justice, justice in its many forms, and above all, the sustainability of life. Thank you very much.


UN DESA · Assistant Secretary-General · Bjorg Sankar [52:02]:

Thank you so much, Ms. Torres. for that reminder of the shoulders of our foremothers and sisters that we are standing on and that you are standing on and that Indigenous women's leadership is built on. It's not new. It's been there for a long time. And the job now is to recognize it and amplify it. So thank you so much for that important message. So finally, It's my pleasure to welcome Dr. Rosalie Gonzalez. And I would like to ask you, having led indigenous women's engagement with international mechanisms for so many years, what does effective indigenous women's leadership look like within these spaces, and how can it be better supported and sustained?


ECMIA · Regional Coordinator for North America · Rosalie Gonzalez [52:54]:

Good morning, and thank you. I'm honored to address you. at this time in our shared moment in Indigenous women's her story. Indigenous women have been engaging with the UN for at least 50 years, at least. We've been here from the beginning. In 1977, when Indigenous peoples first gained direct access to the UN forum to speak for ourselves, Indigenous women, we were there. at the historic International NGO Conference of Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas. Indigenous women went on to participate in the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, in the decades-long negotiations that produced the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and in the advocacy that established and strengthened the three UN mechanisms dedicated specifically to Indigenous peoples. More recently, Indigenous women organized across regions through the consultations and advocacy that led to the adoption of CEDAW General Recommendation 39 on Indigenous women and girls. We have not simply participated in these mechanisms, we've helped shape them. Today, we engage across treaty bodies, UN agencies, special procedures and mechanisms throughout the UN system. Indigenous women are everywhere, and we've been here for generations. So the question of effective participation and effective Indigenous women's leadership is not simply about how we enter these spaces. It's about how we organize, how we bring other women with us, and how we sustain the institutions we built. We learned this early from our elders. In 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Indigenous women from different regions found one another under a small canopy. And there, our elders made a commitment that we would never enter these international spaces alone. We would go home to build national, regional, and global Indigenous women's networks. I saw the importance of that years later at CEDAW. In my role as a senior Indigenous fellow with the Office of the High Commissioner, I was with Indigenous women from India who had just formed the National Indigenous Women's Organization. They had made it all the way to Geneva, but these national leaders were terrified to speak at the NGO meeting. I sat with them in a corner and pushed them. You came this far. You have to speak. Tell them what's happening to your women and girls in your community." And within that last five minutes of that meeting, they did. And among so many NGOs, they were selected to address the CEDAW committee directly. That experience taught me something, something important about indigenous women's leadership. Mentorship matters, but so does opportunity. Sometimes we need, sometimes what is needed is another Indigenous woman beside you saying, "You belong here. Go for it. Speak." But Indigenous women do not need others to give us our voice. When the opportunity is open, we know how to seize it, represent our communities, and make our voices heard. Effective leadership, then, is not always being the woman on the microphone. It's helping open the doors. It's mentoring another woman to walk through it and then watching her take the microphone for herself and her peoples. And for this, we also thank our indigenous leaders and key allies within the UN bodies, such as Miriam Masakisa, Chandra Roy, and Elsa Stamatopoulou, who held up the secretariat of the Permanent Forum for the last 25 years. And so another lesson came from law professor James Anaya when he was special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples. We asked him, "Why don't you specifically meet with Indigenous women during country visits?" That raised an important question about respecting Indigenous peoples' institutions while ensuring Indigenous women are heard. And it caused us to recognize something: We are Indigenous institutions. Indigenous women, we have been organizing for over 30 years. EKMIA, the continental network, is 30 years old, and FIMI is now 25 years old. But the Maori Women's Welfare League has organized Indigenous women for over 50 years. Our organizations are not outside Indigenous self-determination. They are only expressions of it. And look at what happens when those institutions are sustained. Indigenous women organize across regions and engaged CEDAW for years. That collective advocacy contributed to General Recommendation 39, a standard that recognizes both our individual rights and our collective rights. And that is effective leadership. We enter, we organize, We bring others, we build institutions, and we change law, policy, and systems. Thank you.


UN DESA · Assistant Secretary-General · Bjorg Sankar [58:25]:

Thank you, Dr. Gonzalez, for sharing those experiences and reflections on what it takes to lead and to claim space within the buildings and the institutions that we are at at the moment here at the United Nations, and not least what it takes to keep leading. So with that, I would like to really thank all four panelists. What we have heard from Africa, from Asia, from North America, from the Americas more broadly, is a single powerful truth. Indigenous women have always led. Your leadership is what will carry this agenda forward. So thank you very much again. So I would like to, I think, invite the panelists to find your seats and hand back to the master of ceremony for a special moment, the presentation of FIMI's Indigenous Women's Leadership Awards. Thank you very much.


IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [59:31]:

Thank you so much to all the panelists, and thank you, Bjorn, for leading us this important conversation. Now we come to a moment of celebration, a moment to recognize indigenous women's leadership, resilience, and the power of collective action. Those who know FIMI, I think, must be familiar with this. Since 2013, FIMI has been-- FIMI Indigenous Women's Leadership Award has recognized indigenous women's organizations whose work strengthens communities and creates opportunities for indigenous women and girls to thrive. This year, under the theme Sports for Indigenous Women's Wellbeing and Self-care, the award celebrates four remarkable organizations from four different regions, using sport as a pathway to wellbeing, empowerment, cultural connection, and community strength. We invite you to watch a short video recognizing this year's Indigenous Women's Leadership Award recipients. Is the video ready?


Speaker 20 [1:00:51]:

In every corner of the world, Indigenous women sustain life. With ancestral wisdom, collective leadership, and a profound vision for the future, they transform their communities every single day. This year, we celebrate indigenous women's organizations that make sport much more than a physical activity. They transform it into well-being, autonomy, leadership, the defense of rights, and hope for future generations. Since 2013, the FIMI Indigenous Women's Leadership Award has recognized those who, through commitment and collective action, are changing history from within their own territories. Because when an Indigenous woman leads, she strengthens her community, she inspires others, and she transforms the world. For our women and girls, football is a space to heal, to rebuild trust, and to strengthen community bonds after experiences of violence and conflict. Through traditional Kichwa games, AWA connects ancestral knowledge with self-care, mental health, and violence prevention, keeping memory alive across generations. In Assam, football is opening new possibilities for Adivasi girls, supporting their education and well-being, while helping them see themselves as leaders in their communities. In Fiji, field hockey is creating new spaces for girls and young women, not only as players, but as coaches, referees, and leaders. Four organizations, four territories, one shared vision, sport as a pathway to well-being, rights, leadership, and collective transformation.


IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [1:03:00]:

Congratulations to this year's Indigenous Women's Leadership Award recipients, our Indigenous Women's Empowerment Kenya, Awak Ecuador, Purva Varati in Education Trust, Assam, India, and Aituki. we should be celebrating along with the work that Indigenous women are doing on the ground. Thank you so much. Now we move to the next segment, where we will be discussing from recognition, leadership to commitment. Our next segment from CSW70 to GR39 accountability that will connect to connect the commitments emerging from the 17th session of the Commission of the Status of Women with CEDAW General Recommendation number 39 on the rights of Indigenous women and girls. This is an opportunity for us to consider how international commitments can translate into practical actions, including through plural legal system, effective remedies, legal empowerment, Indigenous-led data and knowledge, dedicated resources, institutional accountability and meaningful follow-up mechanisms. To moderate this important dialogue, conversation, thank you so much, Bjorn. It's my pleasure to invite Ms. Leah Nicholas-McKenzie, Vice Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on the Indigenous Issues. The floor is yours.


UNPFII · Vice-Chair · Leah Nicholas-McKenzie [1:04:38]:

It's a beautiful day. I would like to first acknowledge the traditional territories of the Lenape peoples. I am a proud member of the Walisagway Nation in Canada. And as one of the founding members of FIMI, this is really a full circle moment for me and for the organization. Now, this segment, as mentioned, looks at the issue of access to justice for all Indigenous women and girls from standard setting to implementation, which has long been a focus of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. And I would like to take a moment to acknowledge my colleague on the forum, Amina Amhareth, and as well Miriam Masakisa from our secretariat. and pay tribute to Elsa Stamatopoulou, who's here with us today. She was the very first chief of our secretariat. Now, access to justice remains one of the most persistent barriers facing indigenous women and girls worldwide. Too often, they navigate legal systems that were not designed for them in mind. Systems that fail to recognize their collective rights, that overlook the intersection of gender-based and ethnic discrimination they face, and that leave the harms committed against them, including violence, dispossession of land, and violations of their cultural rights, unaddressed and unremediated. For many Indigenous women, justice also means the recognition of their own legal systems and ways of resolving disputes alongside and in dialogue with state justice mechanisms. Standards alone do not deliver justice, so this segment asks a harder question: What does it take to move from agreed language to lived reality? And to help answer that question, we are honored to welcome our panelists, who have each shaped this agenda from a different vantage point. I'd like to invite them to come join us. Her Excellency Beth Delaney is the Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations. Her Excellency Sandra Jensen Lande is the Deputy Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations. Laetitia Boniface, who is with us online, was a member of the CEDAW Committee from 2021 to 2024 and was part of the group that prepared General Recommendation 39. Begonia Lasaga Baster is the Director of the Division for Gender Equality at UNESCO. And Adriana Quinones is chief of the Human Rights and Non-Discrimination Section at UN Women's Geneva office. Now, special rapporteur Albert Berume was meant to join us on this panel, but due to the delayed start, he had to leave. But we do acknowledge his commitment to both joining us on the panel and to his longstanding commitment to Indigenous women and girls. So first, I am pleased to invite Her Excellency, Ms. Beth Delaney. Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia, who has kindly agreed to open this segment and has agreed to stay a bit longer. I know that you have other commitments, so much appreciated. Excellency, Australia has its own ongoing journey with Indigenous rights and reconciliation domestically. How does that experience inform the position Australia brings to advancing GR39 internationally?


Australia · Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative · Beth Delaney [1:07:58]:

Thank you very much and good morning, everyone. It really is a privilege to join you here at the commemorative event of the first ever International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls. Can I also express my condolences to our Nepalese family for the tragedy that's unfolding there. Can I also acknowledge the people whose land we meet on today, the Lenape people, as well as all Indigenous peoples who are joining us from around the globe, our Pacific, our family, and pay my respects to your countries and ancestors, elders past, present, and emerging. And can I acknowledge also the remarkable Indigenous women leaders joining us, your resilience, your leadership, cultural strength, continue to shape communities, nations, and international partnerships across the globe. So now to your question. So Australia's reconciliation journey is ongoing. It's taught us very important lessons about partnership, self-determination, and the value of Indigenous leadership. But our journey is far from finished. Indigenous women and girls in Australia continue to experience unacceptable rates of violence, overrepresentation in the justice systems, and persistent socioeconomic disadvantage. At the same time, in Australia, as in many countries, Indigenous communities, Indigenous women are leading solutions, strengthening culture, supporting families, advancing economic opportunities, and building more resilient futures. Under our national agreement on closing the gap, Australia seeks to embed shared decision-making and Indigenous-led approaches across government systems and services, and we don't really have time to go into examples, but I you to have a look at them. And that's because we know their leadership is not only vital for Indigenous communities, but also for addressing some of the most complex challenges facing our societies. And we also know that more sustainable outcomes are achieved when Indigenous peoples are partners in decision making, rather than the subjects of it. So Australia seeks to bring these same principles to our international engagement, including how we drive, I suppose, GR39, to recognise that Indigenous women and girls experience distinct and intersecting forms of discrimination, while also recognising the leadership, resilience and contributions they bring to their communities, societies and countries. We're working with Australia's First Nations people to bring their perspectives within Australia's foreign policy through our First Nations International Engagement Strategy. And guided by our international gender equality strategy, informed by our domestic experience, we advocate for approaches grounded in partnership, participation and self-determination. Australia believes progress is strongest when Indigenous women and girls are not only heard, but empowered to shape policies, programs and decisions that affect their lives. As we mark this first International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls, it's time to move beyond recognition to action. Amidst growing global challenges and constrained resources, investing in the leadership, the knowledge, the agency of Indigenous women and girls is essential to building stronger, more inclusive and more resilient societies. And once again, it's a true honour to share this historic day, historic and hopeful, I think was one of the expressions, with you. And thank you again for allowing me to join.


UNPFII · Vice-Chair · Leah Nicholas-McKenzie [1:11:37]:

Well, thank you, Excellency, and it is indeed a hopeful day. So we now turn to what GR39 demands of states in practice, and I misled you. Dr. Albert Barume is indeed with us. And so I am so pleased to welcome the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Mr. Special Rapporteur, from your mandate's perspective, what are the most urgent state obligations under GR39, particularly regarding access to justice within plural legal systems and free, prior, and informed consent, and where are states falling short today?


UN · Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples · Albert Barume [1:12:12]:

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I apologize for rushing you somehow. I was on my way to the airport. Let's just start by recognizing or joining those celebrating today, which is -- I absolutely do share the view it's a historical day. And the reason it is a historical day is actually part of my answer to your question. I do, as a UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, it is important to acknowledge the particularly disproportionate weight that Indigenous women and girls have been carrying for centuries, decades. and in contemporary times. And for that reason, I'm really, really pleased that the UN has decided to dedicate an international day to indigenous women and girls. In my report that I'm presenting to the Human Rights Council in Geneva this coming September on indigenous women reproductive rights, I do say something specific that I want to hear to repeat is that throughout history, wherever this has happened, every time indigenous peoples were first facing challenge, two major targets have always existed across regions. And those major targets have been indigenous peoples' land and indigenous women bodies. In that report, I highlight how it is critically important as we move towards celebrating the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People for states to acknowledge, recognize the importance of those two central issue to indigenous peoples. And I meant indigenous people, land and territory and indigenous women bodies. Those two through century decade have been and continue to be the two major target of policies, program seeking to annihilate or affect indigenous people's rights. So it's really an extraordinary day, and I'm very, very happy to -- that this day is actually finally seeing the light. My second point, Madam Chair, just to answer to your question, is that in the report that I'm presenting to the Human Rights Council in the coming September in Geneva, I'm actually underlining the centrality for state to institutionalize intercultural health policies, programs, and institutions. They are key to redressing those historical injustices. Because I think as the Excellency, the ambassador of Mexico did mention, it is important, a state cannot redress something it does not recognize first. then a state must repair if a state have to seek reconciliation. These are three key major steps. And it is important while state move to redressing, to acknowledging, to redressing and seeking reconciliation with indigenous women and girls, that those state put in place culturally sensitive health policies, programs and institutions that put at the center essentially two major things. First, the centrality of indigenous traditional knowledge, including midwifery, which was celebrated a few months ago. The traditional knowledge of indigenous people is and will continue to be central. Second, the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous women, including in the health sectors. Madam Chair, Again, once more, let me really thank you for inviting me to this very, very, very central and important event for redressing the historical injustices Indigenous people, and more specifically Indigenous women and girls, have gone through and continue to go through. Because, and that's my last point, my report do actually show how those historical injustices remain non-addressed and continue in different form in contemporary times. These are my point. Again, thank you, Madam Chair, for inviting me, and I do apologize for rushing you because I have to catch a flight. Thank you.


UNPFII · Vice-Chair · Leah Nicholas-McKenzie [1:17:37]:

Thank you so much, Special Rapporteur, for that important perspective and also for your so important-- your report on Indigenous women and reproductive rights is just so important. So thank you again. So now let me turn to Her Excellency, Ms. Sandra Jensen Lande, Permanent Representative of Denmark. And my question, Excellency, Denmark has long positioned itself as a champion of gender equality on the international stage. How does that leadership translate into concrete support for the rights and priorities of Indigenous women and girls, both within Denmark's own realm and globally?


Denmark · Deputy Permanent Representative · Sandra Jensen Lande [1:18:16]:

Thank you, Ms. Nicholas-Mackenzie. Thank you so much. And my sincere thanks to all the organizers today and to the Indigenous women and leaders in particular who are with us today, whether they're with us physically, online, or maybe spiritually. They have worked very hard to make this day a reality, and it is indeed a day worth marking. For the government of Denmark, gender equality, as you were saying, has in SRS HR and the rights of indigenous peoples are all key priorities, but at the same time, we have to acknowledge that our current advocacy follows very dark chapters of our history. For decades, beginning in the 1960s, women and girls in Kalaallit Nunaat, also known as Greenland, were subjected to contraception without full consent or adequate information, exactly the theme that the Special Rapporteur was just talking about. They experienced pain, humiliation, and systemic discrimination. most fundamentally, women and girls were denied the right to decide freely over their own bodies and their own future. In 2025, the Prime Minister of Denmark formally apologized for the injustice committed against Greenlandic women and girls. And the government of Denmark committed ourselves to working together with Nalaka Suizut, the government of Greenland, guided by truth, recognition, dialogue and reconciliation for a better future. But an apology must, of course, also be followed by action. That is why the Parliament in Denmark has recently adopted a compensation scheme for those affected, which will now be implemented. And Naalakkersuisut and the Government of Denmark are discussing how best to shed light on our shared history and to support reconciliation. We know that reconciliation requires listening, transparency, and sustained action, and we know that we still have a lot of work to do. The same principle guides our international engagement. Indigenous women and girls must not simply be the subjects of decisions. They must have a voice, a seat at the table, and the power to shape those decisions. This means ensuring that indigenous women and girls are able to participate meaningfully in the decisions that affect their lives, from climate action and the protection of lands, territories and resources, to sexual and reproductive health and rights. At the UN, Denmark therefore works for enhanced participation in indigenous peoples' representatives and representative institutions chosen according to their own procedures. We advocate for increased recognition of indigenous people's rights to self-determination and their distinct status as right holders, as well as the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by indigenous women and girls. And we support the human rights mechanism that hold us all accountable, such as the Universal Periodic Review and the special mandate holders. We just heard from one of them. We hope to continue working with all of you to shift these norms and standards. And we also translate our commitments into action through our development cooperation, through our partnership with the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, IWGIA, and the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Denmark supports Indigenous women's organizations across the world. Our partnerships include dedicated funding for Indigenous women and girls, ensuring that their own organizations have the resources to identify priorities and the change in their communities. So on this first International Day, let us celebrate the leadership of Indigenous women and girls who have fought very hard and continue to do so, and let us listen to them and support them. Thank you.


UNPFII · Vice-Chair · Leah Nicholas-McKenzie [1:22:15]:

Thank you so much, Excellency, particularly for sharing the story of reproductive injustice suffered by Indigenous women in Greenland, as well as the actions that are being taken to address it. So we now turn to the normative foundations of General Recommendation No. 39 itself. And our next speaker is Ms. Laetitia Boniface, former member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, joining us online. Ms. Bonifaz played a direct role in the committee's work developing General Recommendation No. 39. And so, Ms. Bonifaz, what does CEDAW General Recommendation No. 39 change for Indigenous women and girls that previous CEDAW jurisprudence did not address? And where were the key breakthroughs in its negotiation?


CEDAW · Former CEDAW Committee member · Laetitia Bonifaz [1:23:07]:

Thank you very much. I would have love to be with you in New York, but unfortunately, I have to join you online. I wanted to begin by expressing my sympathy to Nepal. My colleague, Vandana Nara, has been keeping us up to date with this tragedy, and my solidarity to everyone who's affected. diving into this topic, I'd like to say that General Recommendation 39 focused on and placed in the core the rights of indigenous women that hadn't been expressly taken into account in the original text that only talked about rural women. Indigenous women today in General Recommendation 39 have a new instrument which is serving to uphold rights not only within courts but also to understand the topic substantively, which is how to work on intersectionality and interculturality. Because All too often, it is thought that indigenous women only suffer discrimination because they are indigenous, or that they only suffer it outside indigenous territories. General recommendation 13.9, with the assistance of various organizations, including FIMI, which are with us today, managed to include in the articles of the general recommendation a reference to the expectation on all states relating to health, education, work, and everything involved in the relationship with the land. One of the fundamental issue was the interrelationship between indigenous peoples and not only women as individuals. Now, what is my stock taking of the General Recommendation 39? Well, fortunately, particularly UN Women has made it possible for us to have many fora in Latin America at least, where I've been involved, to ensure that general recommendation, the general recommendation is known about, because the first step has to be dissemination, raising awareness. I think that it is the first recommendation in the whole history of CEDAW that has been translated into seven or eight indigenous languages. This dissemination work needs to carry on, and it needs to be seen as a general recommendation that thinks about everyone, but it can also be tailored to a specific region, but also specifically to each country. We've been working in Guatemala, in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and in Mexico, my country, and We've been able to see how the acceptance of this and the fact that there was a new instrument was born out of the fact that people started thinking about cultural diversity, but particularly something that is fundamental, that is, for the first time in history, putting women, indigenous women and indigenous girls also in the heart of our discussions of all of these rights. Thank you very much.


UNPFII · Vice-Chair · Leah Nicholas-McKenzie [1:27:23]:

Thank you so much, Ms. Bonifaz, for your work with Indigenous women to achieve GR39. And I am so delighted to hear that it's being translated into Indigenous languages. So now we turn to how the UN system itself is putting these commitments into practice. And I am pleased to welcome online Ms. Magonia Lasaga-Baster, Director of the Division for Gender Equality at UNESCO, who plays a leading role in indigenous language preservation and education. Ms. Lasaga-Baster, UNESCO's policy on engaging with indigenous peoples is aligned with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. How is UNESCO translating this commitment into concrete support for indigenous women specifically particularly in safeguarding their role as knowledge holders and cultural transmitters.


UNESCO · Director, Division for Gender Equality · Begonia Lasaga-Baster [1:28:15]:

Thank you very much, Chair. Good morning. It is a pleasure for me to begin this intervention in the language of my land, Basque. On behalf of UNESCO's Director General, Mr. Khaled El Enany, I'm extremely honored to join this first commemoration of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls. I want to congratulate FIMI, UN Women, the Permanent Missions of Canada, Mexico, Ford Foundation, and so many friends that I have seen there, and so many people to have been able to achieve this International Day. And I think this day reminds us a very critical truth is Indigenous women are right holders, are leaders, and are agents of change. Across the world, they are the forefront of safeguarding languages, transmitting cultural practices, preserving knowledge systems, and strengthening community resilience. And yet, Indigenous women continue to face multiple and intersecting, as the last speaker has told us, forms of discrimination that limit their their visibility and their participation in decision-making processes. Recognizing and addressing these inequalities is essential both for advancing human rights and gender equality, but also for preserving the extraordinary diversity that enriches humanity as a whole. Across the field of competences in UNESCO, from education to culture, to science, from culture to communication and information, we seek to support indigenous peoples in safeguarding, transmitting and promoting their heritage, knowledge and languages, while ensuring that also in these issues, women are fully recognized and key actors and partners. And we are very proud as UNESCO to work with you. We are the lead agency for the Decade of Indigenous Languages, goes from 2022 to 2032. And we promote the preservation, rehabilitation, revitalization, transmission of Indigenous languages with all the Indigenous peoples. And recognizing that they, these Indigenous peoples, and particularly Indigenous women, are repository of identities, memories, traditional knowledge and worldviews. And you, indigenous women, are at the heart of these intergenerational transmission. We have worked with you, with some of you indigenous women, AI data scientists, to add your languages to Google's translation tool, like K'iche', Maya, Hunrik, and many other languages. We also work on the right to education in your own languages and grounded in your own cultures. And in climate resilience, we also work with many of you women, for instance, pastoralists in Africa, documenting the impacts of climate change and engaging you with you and always with you on things related to water conservation and protection of biodiversity. But let's be clear, this is not only about the past. You are contributing to contemporary cultural life as artists, storytellers, performance, craftswomen, writers and cultural entrepreneurs, renewing and reinterpreting the traditions for new generations. We are extremely happy to work with you to safeguard, create and share culture, ensuring that voices, knowledge and creativity continue to shape both the present and the future. And allow me to conclude with a very simple message. The preservation of indigenous languages, cultures, and knowledge systems cannot, and I repeat, cannot be achieved without Indigenous women. We remain fully committed to working, still working, continue working together with you, with Indigenous women, the Indigenous people, all member states, and all the United Nations system to advance to this objective. Thank you very much.


UNPFII · Vice-Chair · Leah Nicholas-McKenzie [1:32:52]:

Thank you, Ms. Lezaga-Baster, for highlighting what implementation looks like in practice. And we only have a few minutes left, and thankfully we're at our final speaker in this segment, Ms. Adriana Quinones, Chief of the Human Rights and Non-Discrimination Section at UN Women. Ms. Quinones, how is the UN Women working to translate the CSW70 agreed conclusions and GR39 into concrete, accountable action, and what would be meaningful follow-up between now and CSW71? Ms. Quinones, we're not hearing you. I'm so sorry. It appears that we are having technical difficulties. With that, I think we're going to have to wrap up. And I would like to thank all the speakers for grounding this conversation, both the letter of GR39 and the urgent work of implementation. I now, unfortunately, had wanted to open the floor, but have to hand it back to the moderator. Thank you. Liwen.


IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [1:34:46]:

for bringing this important conversation from commitments to international standards towards implementation, accountability, and action. So since we have very few less time to offer our closing reflection and call to action, I'm pleased to once again invite Teresa Javita.


UN Women · Chief, Human Rights and Non-Discrimination Section · Adriana Quinones [1:35:08]:

Hi, I'm here. Can you hear me?


UNPFII · Vice-Chair · Leah Nicholas-McKenzie [1:35:11]:

Yes, please go ahead.


UN Women · Chief, Human Rights and Non-Discrimination Section · Adriana Quinones [1:35:13]:

Wonderful, thank you. And I'm so grateful that I could connect, just sending you a very warm hug from Geneva. You will see in the room, and you have in Geneva, our new team on human rights, rule of law, and on discrimination, which presents the most important opportunity that UN Women has created to link the commitments of the human rights treaty bodies, as much as we have with the CEDAW Committee on General Recommendation 39, to our work with civil society organizations, with other UN agencies, with governments, and to increase the accountability for access to justice as was set forth in CSW70. So we have put together a plan for the effective implementation of CEDAW General Recommendation 39 in partnership with FIMI and other indigenous women organizations. We will be reporting on implementation of CSW 70, and we had the privilege of counting with several indigenous women in the preparation of the expert group meeting, the Secretary General's report, and the agreed conclusions. We will continue to do the same from an integrated approach that brings the experience and the knowledge, and we hope to come back next year to report on this progress. It is an honor for UN Women to be joining this commemoration and we look forward to what comes. This is just the beginning. This is just the beginning of a dialogue of implementation and count on UN Women. Thank you.


FIMI · Executive Director · Teresa Zapeta [1:37:06]:

Thank you for all of the statements. We're running over time. So two main conclusions and two messages to take away. First is the importance of partnerships, the importance of collective work. And in this context, before closing, I'd like to take some time to recognize the commitment of the state of Bolivia, which was behind the promotion of this global recognition, the International Day of Indigenous Women, obviously all of our friends, but also those in the Permanent Forum and the Secretariat. I'd like to thank them for making it possible to have this formal recognition today. I'd also like to underscore the importance once again of partnerships And on that point, I would like to invite all states, the philanthropic community to keep up these initiatives, these programs and maintain the same budget. Let's, we're continuing to advocate because We think that it is possible to continue investing in indigenous women's there as a political decision in the hands of many states, and we invite them to ensure that this day is an opportunity to reaffirm this commitment, but also turn it into programs, budgets, and funding. Finally, everyone's already said this, General Recommendation 39 from the CEDAW Committee is our tool. We have a global plan of action and indigenous women are very committed. We need to see the same commitment from our counterparts, states, the UN system, other associations and organizations and bodies that can join this recommendation and other important CEDAW recommendations. So, thank you very much to our panelists, to all of the guests here who came today, and those joining us online. And we invite you to ensure that this day that we're commemorating today extends throughout the rest of the year. Thank you very much.


IFIP · Program Director; Master of ceremony · Chandak Hapa Mogar [1:39:34]:

So, as a reflection and call to action, so As we close this first commemoration of the International Day of Indigenous Women and Girls, let's carry forward not only recognition of Indigenous women leadership, but also our collective responsibility to act. We want to see actions, not only commitments. So today we have heard a very clear message that this recognition must lead to meaningful and equitable participation of Indigenous women and girls. Commitment must lead to implementation into actions. And And resources must be accompanied by accountability. So the leadership of indigenous women and girls is already transforming communities, protecting territories, biodiversity, sustaining culture. We have already heard from all the indigenous women panelists. So our responsibility is to ensure that systems and institutions around them create conditions for the leadership to follow. So on behalf of FIMI, UN Women, and our partner, the Permanent Mission of Mexico and Permanent Mission of Canada, we sincerely-- we extend our sincere appreciation to all the distinguished speakers, moderators, indigenous women leaders who are here joining us and also virtually, member states, UN entities, partners, and participants for making this historic first commemoration possible event. So thank you everyone and to everyone joining us through UNTV online. Thank you for being part of this important moment. So before we close, I would like to request the speakers, moderators and all Indigenous women delegates to join us for a group photo and our FIMI team will be guiding us to do that. So thank you everyone. Thank you for the patience and extending your time to be with us today. Thank you.