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Connecting Communities - Sharing Knowledge - Building a Common Future

 

April/May 2008

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Lt to Rt, James Stauch, Program Manager at Gordon Foundation, Patrick  Johnston, President and CEO of Gordon Foundation, Evelyn Arce-White of IFIP and Theresa Fay Bustillos, Chair of IFIP and Director of Levi Strauss Foundation

 

 

Se:kon/Greetings IFIP Friends,

I hope that this message finds you in good health and strong spirit as we approach the summer season.

 

IFIP has been very busy this spring with speaking at several conferences and has published the recent article titled On The Ground: IFIP Facilitates Donor Access to Mesoamerica . Another report soon to come is called,Foundation Grantmaking to International Indigenous Peoples: Crossing Borders, Setting Trends”.  This research explores giving by private (independent, corporate, and community) foundations in the United States to Indigenous peoples across the globe in a more comprehensive manner than ever before. To the extent possible given current tools for tracking giving, it will compare activity in the U.S. to activity in other major donor regions, including Canada, the U.K., and Europe.

IFIP had the opportunity to present some draft research findings at the panel discussion on "Funding Opportunities for Sustaining Biological and Cultural Diversity" during the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation's symposium in NYC and attended the notable 7th annual Global Philanthropy Forum in San Francisco, the Goldman Environmental Awards and several other conferences and meetings.

IFIP also successfully conducted two sessions at the Annual Council on Foundations Conference. One session, co-organized by the Levi Strauss Foundation, themed “Climate Change: How Indigenous Peoples are Tackling the Most Challenging Issues of our Time” and looked at unique perspectives that Indigenous Peoples can provide to our most pressing global issues. We are grateful to our excellent speakers that provided an insightful look into how donors can support strategies of Indigenous adaptation to Climate Change, speakers included James Stauch, Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, Patricia Cochran, Inuit Circumpolar Council and Winona La Duke, Honor the Earth. Transcription of session will come soon.

 

Our “Key to Effective International Philanthropy,” session examined how philanthropic institutions can support transformative change within Indigenous Communities in a respectful manner. We thank our speakers, Emilienne de Leon of Semillas, Chief Kokoi, Amerindian Peoples Association of Guyana, and Trevor Stevenson, Amazon Alliance.

 

IFIP presented our annual award for the first time to a foundation based internationally, the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation based in Toronto, Canada received the award in recognition of their efforts to support First Nations, Inuit and other Northern Peoples to shape public policy reflective of and reinforcing cultural priorities and traditions, for more info see http://www.gordonfn.org/index.cfm?cp=89

Previous recipients include The Christensen Fund (2007), Kalliopeia Foundation (2006), and Ford Foundation President Susan Beresford (2005). A press release will be sent soon.

 

The Amazon Donors Forum that Amazon Alliance organized and IFIP co-sponsored had productive dialogue and significant outcomes were achieved. There were a wide array of funders and Amazonian indigenous peoples present to ensure a positive future for all of Amazonia. A full report on the all day meeting will come soon, along with the revisions to the Funders Best Practice Guidelines draft.

 

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Actress Daryl Hannah with Goldman Environmental
Award Winners, Pablo Fajardo Mendoza & Luis Yanza

Goldman Environmental Prize: Lawyer Pablo Fajardo and community leader Luis Yanza, who have spearheaded the landmark lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador, have won the 2008 Goldman Prize for South America, the world’s most prestigious environmental award. Click here for video clip of news see for more info http://www.goldmanprize.org/2008/centralsouthamerica

We are currently organizing our planning committee for our Spring 2009 Annual Conference, please let us know if you are interesting in joining the committee. We have plans to have the conference venue in beautiful New Mexico.

I would like to also encourage our members to submit an article for our newsletter "The Sharing Circle" about your work in Indigenous communities. The deadline is June 15th 2008.

If you are not yet a member of IFIP, please begin or renew your membership today and support our efforts to increase support for Indigenous Peoples around the world.


Ske:nen/Peace,
Evelyn Arce-White, M.A.T.
IFIP Executive Director


REPORTS & ARTICLES

Report of the Seventh Session of UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

more information  

An   An unedited version of the report of the seventh session is available that summarizes the outcomes of the April 21- May 2 UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Although the report is not a final official document, it does contain all of the amendments made by the rapporteur during the adoption of the report on Friday 2 May 2008. Thus, the report contains additional paragraphs and changes that were made since the previous documents were issued. Click here for full report


 

Arm in Arm:
Engaged Grantmaking in Local Communities

 

This report focuses on challenges and strategies for grantmakers whose mission requires them to make grants over many years in communities that have a limited number of individuals with the experience and skill required to lead those organizations.  The findings summarized here are based on interviews with approximately 30 individuals working in a range of settings, including grantmaking to First Nations, Native American and Aboriginal Peoples; grantmaking in rural areas; and grantmaking in developing countries.

Click here to download report.


 

The Other Game: Lessons From How Life is Played in Mexican Villages

(CEDICAM was one of the projects that IFIP’s Funders Delegation to Oaxaca visited and also received the Goldman Environmental Award)

 

Orbis Press just published a new book about the work of CEDICAM and what it can teach us in the North. The book tells of the work with CEDICAM and reflections on the significance of what has been learned from the people of the Mixteca that can help us all.

 

Phil and Steve Hicken teamed up on the book that was published by Orbis Press.  "The Other Game: Lessons from How Life is Played in Mexican Villages" is available on most booksellers' websites. To buy the book

 


 

Bridging the Gap between the Rights and Needs of Indigenous Communities and the Management of Protected Areas: Case Studies from Thailand

 

This report presents and analyses data collected between 2004 and 2005 in the Surin Islands and Tarutao national marine parks. The report concludes with recommendations for enhanced protected area management and methods to promote natural and cultural conservation.

 

Click here to download report.


EVENTS FOR FUNDERS

Global Philanthropists: Partners for a Knowledge Based Response to Climate Change
The European Foundation Centre, Austrian Science
and Research Liaison Office (ASO) Ljubljana, and
the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and
Technology of the Republic of Slovenia

June 1-3, 2008
Portoroz, Slovenia

The European Foundation Centre, Austrian Science and Research Liaison Office (ASO) Ljubljana, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia are planning the event Global Philanthropists - Partners for a Knowledge based Response to Climate Change on June 1-3, 2008 in Portoroz, Slovenia.

For more information, click here.


OECD 2008 Forum: Climate Change, Growth, Stability Organisation For Economic Co-Operation and Development
                                                                                                             June 3-4, 2008
Paris, France

The OECD Forum is a "multi-stakeholder summit" which brings together business and labour leaders, civil society personalities, government ministers and leaders of international organisations to discuss the hottest issues on the international agenda. It takes place in conjunction with the annual OECD ministerial summit. Forum speakers are usually at the level of Minister or CEO. Forum 2007 attracted approximately 1600 participants from 100 countries, including 150 journalists. Doris Leuthard, Switzerland's Federal Councillor for Economic Affairs, will report to the OECD ministerial summit on the Forum 2008 discussions.

Read more about online registration.


Just Giving: Global Social Change Philanthropy
Grantmakers Without Borders
8th Annual Conference

June 8-10, 2008
San Francisco, California

Since 2001, Grantmakers Without Borders has convened a major annual gathering focused on global social change philanthropy. These events have brought together a diverse assembly of up to 250 grantmakers, individual donors and global Southern activists, who learn, network, and explore collaboration through sessions that cover a wide range of grantmaking topics.

 

More complete information on the conference click here for more info
 


Tällberg Forum 2008                                                                "How on earth can we live together? In search of the common sense"

June 26-29, 2008                                                                             Talberg, Sweden

On June 26, 2008 the Tällberg Forum will gather thinkers and leaders from seventy nations for four days of conversations and workshops related to the opportunities and challenges of global interdependence.

For more information contact: magp@pprogressiofoundation.org


IHRFG Semi-Annual Meeting                                                  Human Rights and Climate Change

 July 21-22, 2008

New York University School of Law

Global climate change holds dramatic implications for human rights -- from the prospect of millions of "climate refugees" fleeing low-lying or changed areas, to rapid disease spread, to ecological disruption -- all likely to have a vastly disproportionate impact on the world's poorest and most marginalized populations.

To register click here

 


EVENTS FOR ALL

Fire and Ice Ceremony for the Earth
'The Elders’ Federation of Greenland

 

July 18-20, 2009
Kangerlussuaq West Coast, Greenland

 

The Fire and Ice Ceremony for the Earth will be a powerful three-day cross-cultural gathering of deliberation, ceremony, and celebration, the objective of which touches the welfare of the world. A principal objective is the return of the sacred fire in fulfillment of prophetic tradition. For the first time in memory the sacred fire will be home. The ceremony will revolve around the physical fire but the most important element will be the spiritual fire, the spirit of which the physical fire is a symbol. It is a symbol of countless generations of indigenous people who have met around it to consider how to live well on the land given to them and how to relate well to the Creator and to one another. The lessons of the ice will also be prominent, both in helping us all recognize our common humanity, and in developing common perspectives raised by the melting ice and global climate change.

 

For more information, click here.

 

 

 

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MEMBER NEWS

 

EcoLogic's Bosques Pico Bonito venture was distinguished with the Energy Globe's National Energy Award for its work in Honduras. For Press Release.

 


Information and Resources Regarding Disaster Relief
in China and Burma

 

 Below please find a list of resources compiled on recommendations from trusted friends and allies.

 

Click here for more information…

 

 

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

 

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ASSISTANCE
FACILITY

 

2008 Call for grant applications from Indigenous peoples’ organizations and their communities.

 

This grant is to fund projects, innovative approaches and partnerships that promote the development of indigenous peoples and help them fulfill their aspirations. 

Deadline is June 30, 2008

 

Click here for more information…

 

 

IN THE NEWS

 

The Special Rapporteur on the Situation of the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People

On Wednesday 26 March, the Human Rights Council adopted, during its 7th session, and without a vote, the list of candidates for special procedures mandate holders proposed by the President of the Council. The list includes the name of the new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people,
Prof. S. James Anaya, from the University of Arizona (United States). The current mandate-holder, Prof. Rodolfo Stavenhagen, will continue holding the mandate until Prof. Anaya assumes it in the following weeks
.

As United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya will investigate human rights violations against indigenous people and provide recommendations to the U.N. Human Rights Council and governments around the world to improve their situations.


Town in the Andes face crisis as glaciers melt

 

(Bolivia) An abandoned alpine lodge is all that remains of Bolivia's renowned Chacaltaya ski resort, the world's highest at 17,388 feet above sea level. Today, the expansive 150-foot thick glacier, which once attracted thousands of tourists, has been reduced to a lone patch of ice about 9-feet deep, visited only by gawkers and concerned scientists.

Read more…


Native People Warn
U.N. of Biofuels Disaster

 

(United Nations) Growing demand for biofuels by the world's rich nations is

propelling attacks on indigenous people and destroying their lands and

 forests. "[There are] increasing human rights violations, displacements and conflicts due to expropriation of ancestral lands and forests for biofuels plantations,"

said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chair of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous

Issues.

 

Read more…

 


Ainu People to Press Demands at G8 Summit

   

(Japan) Japan's hosting of the G8 summit in Hokkaido in July will afford a rare opportunity for the Ainu people who live on the island to press their long-standing demand to be recognized as an indigenous people.

 

Read more…

 

 

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International Funders
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