International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

Photo: UN Trust Fund/Phil Borges

This year’s theme for the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on 9 August focuses on the right to education. Indigenous peoples’ right to education is protected by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by world leaders in September 2015 and the Sustainable Develop Goal 4 further underline this right, calling for eliminating gender disparities in education and ensuring equal access to all levels of education and vocational training, including for indigenous peoples.

Today, the right to education is far from being fully realized for the world’s indigenous peoples. Across all regions, disparities persist between indigenous and non-indigenous populations in terms of education access, retention and achievement. The gap is even wider for indigenous women and girls, condemning them into a cycle of poverty, fewer opportunities, poorer health and lack of decision-making power.

UN Women works with indigenous women around the world, promoting their rights and amplifying their voices. Among the 370 million indigenous peoples around the world, an estimated 45 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for 8.3 per cent of the region’s population [1]. An average of 85 per cent of indigenous children attend secondary education in the region, but only 40 per cent complete their education [2]. On this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we spotlight our work with indigenous women in the region.

Read UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's statement for International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.