Joint Statement of the Cambodia Indigenous Peoples Alliance on the Occasion of the 28th World Indigenous Peoples’ Day and 18th in Cambodia
On August 9, 2022, the Cambodia Indigenous Peoples Alliance (CIPA) issued a joint statement on the Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge to Celebrate the 28th World Indigenous Peoples’ Day and 18th in Cambodia. This statement highlights the attention of the Cambodian government and international institutions in establishing national and international recognizing mechanisms for indigenous peoples in Cambodia and raises the potential challenges indigenous women face in Cambodia.
In the context of indigenous societies, women play an essential role in leading, managing, and preserving collective cultural identities, traditions, land, and natural resources for the indigenous communities and society as a whole. Indigenous women, who take the lead in land and natural resources protection, usually face social threats, discrimination, and unfair application of laws; which lead to lawsuits, imprisonment, family separation, living in poverty, lack of personal security, restriction or prohibition on land rights by law and some influential people. Representative of all the indigenous communities, CIPA calls on all indigenous women to continue their efforts to strengthen their capacity, network, and voice in all trends and mechanisms, to ensure their full participation in the decision-making, leading, preserving, transferring traditional knowledge, and sustaining the development of indigenous peoples following the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Cambodia Indigenous Peoples Alliance also seeks the actual support of indigenous women from national and international development agencies, the Royal Government of Cambodia, and the courts.
Cambodia Indigenous Peoples Alliance (CIPA)
