e-Inclusion and Media for Indigenous Peoples

UNDP has organized a Workshop on e-Inclusion and Media for Indigenous Peoples at the e-Bario Knowledge Fair, 6-7 December 2007.

The Workshop addresses the use of the Media as well as Information and Communication Technologies in realising the human rights for development that have been denied to indigenous peoples for too long. The Workshop aims to formulate the e-Bario Agenda on e-Inclusion for Indigenous Peoples as a supplement to the UN Declaration, as well as develop a global network of Indigenous Peoples’ telecentres.

The adoption on 13 September 2007 by the United Nations General Assembly of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples reflects the continuing concern that indigenous peoples suffer from historic injustices that still prevent them from exercising their right to development.

The UNDP Workshop on e-Inclusion and Media for Indigenous Peoples addresses the use of the Media as well as Information and Communication Technologies in maintaining and strengthening the distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions of Indigenous Peoples, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.

Presentations, case studies and discussions will be facilitated towards developing an action plan for 2008 and beyond, as well as the formulation of the e-Bario Agenda on e-Inclusion for Indigenous Peoples as a supplement to the UN Declaration, that will highlight their rights of access to information and the required access to contemporary ICTs and media that will enable indigenous peoples to exercise such rights towards enhanced levels of e-inclusion. It is also intended as a catalyst for developing a global network of Indigenous Peoples’ telecentres that will foster the exchange of experiences and knowledge towards accelerating the pace of achieving e-inclusion for the world’s Indigenous Peoples.

The Workshop is being held in conjunction with the e-Bario Knowledge Fair, which is being organised in the remote and isolated community of Bario in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, one of the East Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Bario is the site of the multi-award-winning e-Bario Telecentre Project which is instrumental in bringing information and communication based development to this highly distinctive and hitherto isolated indigenous community.

The major outputs of the workshop will also be presented at GK3, the Third Global Knowledge Conference, organized by the Global Knowledge Partnership and being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 11-13 December 2007.


More on telecentres and e-inclusion.