The Samdhana Institute, member of Global Greengrants Alliance International Funders for Indigenous Peoples

Southeast Asia Global Alliance Fund partner of the Global Greengrants Fund network

Member of IUCN
The World Conservation Union

IUCN NL Focal Point for Southeast Asia, Ecosystems Grants Programme (EGP)

Asia/Pacific Indigenous People’s Funders Summit
The Samdhana Institute, member of Global Greengrants Alliance
International Funders for Indigenous Peoples

Introduction

Many funders are aware of the growing need to strengthen and expand indigenous peoples funding in the region to consolidate and build on gains from increased recognition of rights, territories, to fulfill international standards and requirements, and to respond to their own standards for what is acceptable biological, cultural diversity requirements. Necessary steps towards these ends are for funders to improve their own programs by sharing experience, increasing synergies and collaboration and publicizing and identifying critical funding priorities. The 2010 or 2011 Summit would seek to be a first step in meeting these critical objectives.

Background

Now more than ever, global environmental challenges and economic pressures strain the balance between maintaining diverse biological and cultural resources, and pursuing aggressive developmental goals.  This calls for bold and innovative approaches aimed at improving ways of delivery and expanding indigenous peoples funding in the region.  While Asian indigenous peoples communities have made some progress in establishing legal and political frameworks for recognition and with the September 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, historic community disintegration and the persistence of strong external interference could derail fragile gains. Heightened expectations for solving long-standing social and economic issues and better management of environmental resources is straining indigenous governance systems and could result in yet another series of failed and imposed policies. 

There is evidence of heightened awareness about indigenous peoples’ issues in the Asia/Pacific region, e.g. the Philippine passage of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act in October 1997.  Some support for indigenous communities and organizations has emerged from private philanthropy, international assistance and local governments driven by the necessity of addressing long-standing marginalization and solving macro social, economic and environmental problems.

In many Asian and Pacific countries, addressing indigenous peoples’ communities concerns are just emerging as invaluable in national resilience efforts and longterm policy impacts. Recognition, funding and development of initiatives vary widely from country to country. There have been few opportunities to build on the experience in the region and to identify priorities and needs.  In addition, considering the number of communities and the scope of work necessary to re-establish internal capacity for their own appropriate, vibrant and sustainable development, the amount of available funding is most likely severely deficient. For these reasons, bringing together funding agencies in the region and international funders with an interest in funding indigenous peoples in the region is a critical step.

Initiative

There will be a three-day Asia/Pacific Indigenous Peoples’ Funders Summit to learn about existing support programs in the region, discuss and debate with indigenous elders and advance crucial activities towards strengthening the availability and effectiveness of support.

The Samdhana Institute a member of the Global Greengrants Alliance and the International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) are working together with other organizations engaged in Indigenous People’s support to design a meeting that will help to develop stronger understanding and improved funding.

The summit will take place in Bali in early 2011.  It will bring together both local organizations and international organizations with an interest in funding indigenous peoples’ groups to share objectives and approaches and consider initiatives for strengthening and expanding indigenous funding in the region. The geographic scope of the meeting will be the Asia/Pacific region (including Australia and the Pacific Islands), with a focus on emerging experiences of IP’s in Southeast Asia and Northern Territories in Australia.  Target attendance will be from 20-40 organizations.

The initiative will seek to involve existing philanthropic networks in the region, such as WINGS, APPC, national community foundation networks; bilateral/multilateral and private funding agencies, such as DFID and the United Nations Development Programme, The Christensen Fund; local funds and foundations, such as the Foundation for the Philippine Environment, Kehati and the Beautiful Foundation. 

In preparation for the meeting, the organizers will pull together a small report on indigenous peoples’ funding and needs in the Asia/Pacific region.  The report will identify, existing resource flows, key questions in providing effective support, and areas of new or strategic need.

Funding

In order to hold the meeting, we estimate the need to identify $35,000 to $45,000 in support for organization, coordination and travel. Some of these costs could be defrayed through sharing of resources among funders in the region as well as looking for opportunities to hold the meeting in conjunction with already planned activities.  Depending on the agenda and scope it is anticipated to be key to provide travel and accommodations to 5-10 indigenous peoples representatives from across the region. Funder participants in the meeting would be asked to pay their own meeting-related costs.

The meeting budget will be:

How to move forward?

Samdhana and IFIP are inviting a small group of organizations to serve on a steering committee that will provide the key guidance and outreach on scope and content for the summit. Samdhana SEAsia and FPE regional advisers to the Indigenous Peoples Support Fund, and the Alliance for Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia, will take the lead in organizing and planning for the summit. The steering committee will meet in July 2010.

The steering committee meeting will be held in Manila.  Samdhana along with a core group of interested Philippine funding organizations: The Foundation for the Philippine Environment, Foundation for a Sustainable Society, Inc and the Philippine Tropical Forest Foundation will be the local hosts and will identify a suitable venue.