REPUBLICA DEL PERU

MISION PERMANENTE
ANTE NACIONES UNIDAS
REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR
MISION PERMANENTE ANTE
NACIONES UNIDAS
FORO INTERNACIONAL DE
MUJERES INDIGENAS
INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND CEDAW: CHALLENGUES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Side event organized by Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Continental Network of Indigenous Women
(ECMIA) and International Forum of Indigenous Women (FIMI) on the occasion of the 13
th
Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Thursday, May 15
th
13.15 -2.30 pm
Venue: Trusteeship Council Chamber
Participants:
- Mrs. Raquel Gonzles, Undersecretary for Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador.
-Mrs. Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director UN-Women and Assistant Secretery-
General of the United Nations.
-Mrs. Gladys Acosta, UN-Women former Chief of Latin American and the Caribbean
Section and Peruvian Candidate to CEDAW.
-Mrs. Victoria Tauli Corpuz, Executive Director of TEBTEBBA Foundation (Indigenous
Peoples International Centre for Policy Research and Education, Philippines) and newly
appointed Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
-Mrs. Edna Kaptoyo, Indigenous Information Network,Kenya.
-Mrs. Charlotte Bunch, Founding Director and Senior Scholar at the Center for Womens
Global Leadership, Rutgers University, United States.
Moderator: Mrs. Tarcila Rivera Zea, Coordinator of the Continental Network of
Indigenous Women (ECMIA).
Background:
The Permanent Forum at its Third Session (2004) recommended that the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) pay special attention to the
issues related to maintaining the integrity of indigenous women and the gender
dimension of racial discrimination against indigenous peoples.
10 years has passed since that recommendation and CEDAWs attention to the specific
situation of indigenous women has increased. In 2007, the General Assembly adopted
the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples so that indigenous womens
demands have gained high visibility in the last 10 years.
This side event will thus provide an opportunity:
to exchange views and experiences on how CEDAW and the UN Declaration can
result in greater prevention of discrimination and violence against indigenous
women around the world.
To focus on the elaboration of a new CEDAWs General Recommendation on the
right of equality and non-discrimination of indigenous women in order to
produce a coherent application agreed upon articles of CEDAW with the aim to
guarantee their rights.
Programme:
Presentation of the event by Undersecretary of Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador will
describe the main objectives and the importance of this event to the rights of
indigenous women
Presentation by UN-Women on the relationship between CEDAW and UN-Women on
the promotion and protection on the rights of indigenous women
Questions posed to the panellists by the Moderator in order to learn their views on
how the CEDAW and UN Declaration contribute to the elimination of violence and
discrimination of indigenous women.
Mrs. Tarcila Rivera Zea, will moderate the debate and close the event providing an
overview of the CEDAW action to promote indigenous womens rights worldwide.
Followed by questions and answers
A Light lunch, refreshments and coffee will be served from 12:30 to 1:00 pm on the
First Floor of the Conference Building.