06 Aout

Open door day on Indigenous Peoples at the UN Human Rights Centre,06 August 2008.

On the 6^th of August 2008, the Centre organized an open door day on the rights of indigenous peoples. This open door day, three days before the first official celebration by Cameroon of the International Day on Indigenous Peoples, was aimed at sensitizing the media and the wider public on the “indigenous” concept in human rights law and more particularly on the issue of indigenous peoples in Cameroon . Five panelists were invited to present different aspects of the theme: the Centre made a presentation on the different UN mechanisms promoting and protecting indigenous peoples’ rights; a representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs presented the work of the government of Cameroon in favour of “marginalized peoples”; a representative of ILO explained to participants the ILO-169 project for the ratification of the 169 Convention in Cameroon; a representative from UNICEF dealt with the specific issue of the rights of indigenous children and a representative of the indigenous peoples of Cameroon presented the concrete problems faced by Mbororo and Pygmy communities in the country. The documentary « Indigenous peoples and the United Nations», by Rebecca Sommer, on the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, was also projected to the participants. A dynamic exchange took place at the end between the panelists and the public.