The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) yesterday said that it is deepening its engagement with Indigenous Peoples across the Caribbean and strengthening its response to issues affecting them.
According to a release from the CDB, Vice President of Operations, Isaac Solomon made the revelation while addressing the Bank’s Indigenous Peoples’ Framework Forum in Saint Lucia last week.
The event, which marked the conclusion of the bank’s 53rd Annual Meeting, sought to create a space to bring the matters affecting Indigenous Peoples to the forefront of the regional development agenda. The release said that it focused on pathways for enabling greater economic empowerment, voice, and agency to First Peoples and Tribal Peoples as well as “countering misconceptions and inherent biases that impact how these stakeholders are perceived”.
The release said that the Forum brought together representatives of Indigenous communities from across the Caribbean including youth, women, older persons, leaders in government, and civil society.
“Our attempt to include more of our Indigenous Peoples in today’s conversation by having three satellite locations (in Dominica, Guyana, and Suriname) is a testament to how we are resetting our approach to citizen engagement by meeting our people where they are. It is a sure way of ensuring we do not leave anyone behind,” Solomon said.
Citing the World Bank, the release said that Indigenous Peoples make up approximately six percent of the global population. However, worldwide, they account for about 19 percent of the extremely poor. They have less access to quality education, formal employment, and financial services and are among those more likely to be affected by natural hazards.
Noting that despite strides to promote inclusion across development work and policy advocacy, the views of Indigenous Peoples were not being adequately considered, Solomon said the CDB was working towards deeper engagement.
“Today is symbolic of CDB’s commitment to helping to address this more going forward. With this Forum, we recommit to remain closely attuned and recognise that as a multilateral development bank, we have a responsibility to support the upholding of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, to promote social justice and fairness in development in our region,” he said.
The CDB Vice President felicitated Indigenous Peoples for being major stewards of cultural diversity in the region despite the threats to the preservation of their traditions and way of life.
The release highlighted actions the CDB had taken to push Mayan women’s economic empowerment in Belize through capacity building, community scholarship, and intellectual property protection of indigenous content, through its Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund.
He also pointed out the need to put greater investment in the protection of assets and resources, which includes languages, cultural practices, and approaches to living and respecting Indigenous People’s interaction with Mother Earth.
As one of the immediate activities following the Forum, the release said that the CDB will provide proposal writing training for community leaders with the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency and an online course on community engagement that includes a module on Protocols for Engaging Indigenous Peoples. The CDB and the International Trade Centre are also inaugurating the She Trades Caribbean Hub to help create market opportunities for indigenous and other groups of women. Other programmes include the Bank’s flagship poverty reduction programme, the BNTF, which invests in community-led development, and the Building Resilience and Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change and Disaster Risks in the Kalinago Territory project that is supported by Global Affairs Canada.
Anushka Christiaan, Amerindian Village Representative, Suriname, worshipping during a smoke ceremony held at the start of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum. In the background are (from left) Gwen Nunex-Gonzalez, from the National Garifuna Council, Belize, Chief Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez, Chair, Caribbean Organisation for Indigenous Peoples and Ronalda Chieftainess “KaikoTekina” Pairman, from the Taino Hummingbird People in Jamaica. (CDB photo)
