Welcome to the PRO 169 Training Tool Box on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
PRO 169 is the Programme to Promote ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. It is located within the International Labour Standards Department of the ILO.
INDIGENOUS & TRIBAL PEOPLES’ RIGHTS IN PRACTICE
A guide to ILO Convention No. 169
In 1989, the International Labour Organization adopted the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (ILO Convention No. 169). Since then, the Convention has been ratified by 20 countries and has guided and inspired governments and indigenous peoples all over the world in their work to promote and protect indigenous peoples’ rights.
Twenty years have passed since the adoption of the Convention. This Guide presents experiences, practices and lessons learned generated so far – thus providing a practical tool for the further understanding and implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights.
“The world can no longer ignore indigenous peoples. The world has to come to grips with the reality that indigenous peoples have survived the worst forms of colonization, they have survived the worst situations of poverty – We are still around!”
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Within the last 30 years, indigenous peoples have struggled both locally and internationally for recognition of their existence as peoples and for their rights. At the international level, the result has been the creation of a wide range of international instruments and processes aimed at securing indigenous peoples’ human rights. Among these are:
- The ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples;
- The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and;
- The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The ILO Training Tool Box provides a series of materials for learning more about these instruments and processes. Furthermore, the Tool Box contains information on a wide range of other issues relevant to indigenous peoples such as development, child labour, forced labour, discrimination etc.
The ILO Tool Box is a training material aimed at giving indigenous peoples all over the world access to information on the instruments and processes relevant to them and to improve their knowledge on how these instruments can be used in their efforts to improve their living conditions and have their rights recognised locally, regionally as well as internationally. Likewise, it is our hope that the training material can be used by development agencies, government officials and students to widen their understanding and knowledge when dealing with indigenous peoples issues.
The existence of international conventions and declarations is of great importance, but they will only be put into practice when the people concerned know about their contents and know how to use them.