)

STATEMENT

Statement: Indigenous
women play a vital role in
the preservation and
transmission of traditional
knowledge

UN Women statement on the

occasion of the International Day
of the World’s Indigenous Peoples,
9 August 2022

5 AUGUST 2022

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The preservation and transmission

of traditional knowledge is the
theme of this year’s
commemoration of the
International Day of the World’s
Indigenous Peoples. It is an
opportunity to celebrate
indigenous women’s rich
knowledge about the natural
world, health, technologies,
distinct rites and rituals, and other
significant cultural expressions.
Generation after generation,
women pass on this traditional
knowledge, which is a precious
inheritance.

Indigenous artists from San Juan Comalapa,

Guatemala, pause painting work and stand for a
photo in front of the Centre for the Historical
Memory of Women, April 2018. Pictured from left to
right: María Nicolasa Chex, Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez,
Paula Nicho Cumez, and María Elena Curruchiche.
Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown.

Despite strong international commitments

to the preservation and protection of
traditional knowledge, practices and
creativity, there is continued exploitation of
indigenous peoples and their resources. In
some countries, those resources, including
sacred objects, are threatened, used, or
patented for commercial purposes without
permission.

Protection of traditional knowledge can be

especially challenging. This is the case
when it concerns indigenous women’s roles
to produce, safeguard, and maintain fragile
resources, such as their languages.
Indigenous women’s voices therefore need
to be heard more clearly in the development
of policies on cultural heritage and cultural
expression.

Measures to be taken should include the

establishment of specific legal regimes to
ensure that indigenous women are able to
benefit from their own knowledge, prevent
its unlawful use by others, and have it
rightfully recognized internationally. An
environment that encourages individuals
and social groups, especially indigenous
women, to create, produce, disseminate,
distribute, and have access to their own
cultural expressions should be created.
Indigenous women should meaningfully
participate in decision-making on how their
heritage is used, maintained, and managed.

In March this year, the Commission on the

Status of Women encouraged​Member
States​to ensure that the perspectives of all
indigenous and rural women and girls are
taken into account, with their full and equal
participation in the design,
implementation, follow-up to, and
evaluation of policies and activities that
affect their livelihoods, well-being, and
resilience.

UN Women recognizes the potential of the

traditional knowledge held by indigenous
women to eradicate poverty, enhance
sustainable development, food security and
biodiversity. We are committed to work with
indigenous women from around the world
to ensure that their rights, voices, and
experiences are protected and amplified,
and to promote their contributions to the
advancement of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development.

UN Women
@UN_Women · Follow

Happy #IndigenousPeoplesDay!

#IndigenousWomen are keepers of scientific

environmental and cultural knowledge.

Their right to self-determination and control of

ancestral lands is key to preserving traditional
knowledge.

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