Reflection on the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues by Marietta Latonio of Mercy Global Action

The 24th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) took place from Monday, 21st April, to Friday, 2 May 2025. The UNPFII serves as a platform for Indigenous Peoples to raise issues, share their perspectives, and participate in decision-making on topics such as culture, environment, health, human rights, and economic and social development. The Forum continues to play a crucial role in ensuring that Indigenous voices are heard and their rights are protected through dialogue, collaboration, and global visibility. The theme for this year was : "Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples within United Nations Member States and the United Nations system, including identifying good practices and addressing challenges.”

Marietta Latonio of Mercy Global Action shares the following reflection with us from the gathering:

As a Mercy delegate to the twenty-fourth session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, I had the liberty to attend some challenging events. I offer here my reflections: One event was entitled ‘Violation of Human Rights to water in the Amazon: Impacts on people, environment and implementation of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People (DRIP)’.

Another was entitled, ‘Global Dialogue: Opportunities to share, opportunities and challenges’.

The problem of contamination of water and soil is a big issue globally, as extractive companies continuously use destructive substances in their mining activities. The presence of mercury in the human system due to extractivism is high. In the Amazon Region, many Indigenous People are affected by this issue and it is significantly impacting pregnant women, endangering their unborn babies. Soil contamination is also a concern for many Indigenous people, as farmers are using strong fertilizers in the hope of gaining good produce. However, these farming practices have greatly contributed to the contamination of water. Indigenous People report that often the poison run-off is drained into rivers and other sources of freshwater.

In the Indigenous areas, water is sacred, and it is life. The cry of the Earth is the cry of the Indigenous People.

Scarcity of water happens as a result of contamination. Indigenous People have nowhere to go for fresh water. Many areas in the Amazon are drying up. The absence of water has caused Indigenous people to voluntarily migrate to other places. In addition to the water use by the Indigenous people themselves, it also sustains the water needs of the people in the urban areas, as in the case of Brazil, water is provided to at least 48% of their urban population. Moreover, privatization of water is hurting Indigenous People in such a way that they are faced with increasing competition for their scarce water reserves from bottled water companies.

Deforestation and cutting down of trees illegally is another problem faced by Indigenous People as it diminishes and has negative impacts on their land. It causes soil erosion and loss of biodiversity in their natural habitat. In the case of West Papua, deforestation is caused by commercialized palm and/or sugar cane plantations. An outcome of this is that Indigenous People face challenges in maintaining their traditional livelihoods and local food sources.

Militarization is another problem that some Indigenous communities are facing. Once again an example was provided by a West Papuan representative during the Forum. Thousands of Indigenous Papuans have been displaced from their own homes due to conflict and militarization.

In South Sudan, constant marginalization, internal conflict, contamination of water and soil and deforestation have provided many challenges and grief for Indigenous people.  Internal conflict within their regions is usually over resources like land and water. Additionally, reduced farming due to conflict, has exacerbated food insecurity thus, many South Sudanese are suffering from famine and inadequate food supply.

In Guatemala, mining is a big problem because extractive companies can easily obtain the documents to operate large scale operations.  Protests and opposition to mining activities have been initiated by some of the Indigenous People citing violation of their rights to free, prior and informed consent.

In India, some NGOs and religious groups have experienced difficulty in helping the Indigenous People because some of the states had issued a law on "Anti-conversion". This law prohibits members of religious groups from communicating with Indigenous People on the grounds of  protecting them from religious conversion! This is merely a political strategy to silence the Indigenous People and take away their rights.

At the end of the recent session, a Columban priest from Peru reiterated the word HOPE in the discussion. He emphasized that the late Pope Francis proclaimed the Jubilee Year emphasizing the importance of hope.

There is hope because there are still groups of people who gather and talk about these issues and ways to solve them. That includes us.

We must continue the conversation until the issue of Extractivism is lessened if not eradicated!

Marietta Latonio, Mercy Global Action

2nd May 2025