UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music Released by Smithsonian Folkways

Originally published between 1961 and 2003 but until now out of print, the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music is composed of more than 125 albums from around the world. The entire collection, including many previously unreleased recordings, will be published by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in both digital and physical formats. Two albums will be published per week. With recordings from over 70 nations, the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music offers an impressive diversity of material.  

To access the recordings: http://www.folkways.si.edu/unesco

August 9: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

In 1994, the General Assembly decided that the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples shall be observed on 9 August every year during the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (Resolution 49/214 of 23 December). The date marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

The UN General Assembly had proclaimed 1993 the International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples, and the same year, the Assembly proclaimed the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, starting on 10 December 1994 (Resolution 48/163). The goal of the First Decade was to strengthen international cooperation for solving problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as human rights, the environment, development, education and health.

In 2004, the UN General Assembly proclaimed a Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples through Resolution 59/174. The goal of the Second Decade is to further the "strengthening of international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as culture, education, health, human rights, the environment, and social and economic development, by means of action-oriented programs and specific projects, increase technical assistance, and relevant standard-setting activities".

Read

• More about the day
• UNESCO Director General Bokova's remarks on the day

National Museum of the American Indian
Washington, DC

Student Success: A Published Paper

UNESCO is a world leader both in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and in recognition of local knowledge systems and their value. I want to point to a newly published paper by an American author which describes a UNESCO program that promotes the incorporation of local knowledge in early childhood education in Africa. I am especially pleased to do so because the author is a former student in our UNESCO seminar, and the paper was written as a project for that seminar.

"Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge and Practice into ECCE: A Comparison of Programs in The Gambia, Senegal, and Mali"

Alicia Ranck Soudée

Current Issues in Comparative Education

Abstract: "Early Childhood Development (ECD) has emerged as a theme in international and African dialogue on education in recent years. UNESCO’s Division of Basic Education Early Childhood promotes an integrated approach to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) policy development and review. The study examines how this is implemented in three West African countries, with similar cultural groups in their diverse populations: The Gambia, Mali and Senegal. In The Gambia there is thus far a proposal on how indigenous knowledge should be included in early childhood programs. The clos d’enfants [children’s groups], in Mali demonstrates similar ideas through an international partnership with a local initiative program, developed in Bamako using mothers, local materials and toys made by the participants. Senegal’s program combining local traditions and European pedagogical philosophies, the case des tout-petits [children’s huts], came from the President. Analysis of these three cases suggests that these programs and proposals may be a springboard for UNESCO and partners to further develop ECCE with indigenous knowledge and practice in Africa."

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UNESCO roundtable on the development, culture and identity of indigenous peoples

Image © Ayodele Banjo

A roundtable titled “Indigenous Peoples: Development with Culture and Identity” is to take place 15 September at UNESCO Headquarters*. It is to lay the ground for reflection on this theme which will also be discussed at the 9th session of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) to be held in New York in 2010. Participants are to focus on the contribution of indigenous approaches to sustainable development in the age of globalization. They will also seek to reinforce cooperation among indigenous peoples, governments and the United Nations system as a whole.

The event will be opened by the UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura. Participants will include Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Igorot, Philippines), Margaret Lokawua (Karamoja, Uganda) and Carlos Mamani Condorí (Aymará, Bolivia), respectively chair and members of the UNPFII. John Scott of the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity; Julian Burger, Coordinator, Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Unit, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); Anaisabel Prera, Guatemala’s Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO; and Darriann Riber of the Danish International Development Agency will also be participating.

An estimated 350 million indigenous peoples live in over 70 countries and speak more than 5,000 languages: such is the importance of indigenous people today. Their cultures express the powerful links between humanity and nature, between tradition and modernity, offering a holistic view of the world. They could become a source of renewal for the future. Despite their major contribution to cultural diversity and to sustainable development, many of them are marginalized and deprived of basic human rights.

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9 August International Day of the World's Indigenous People

© UNESCO/Ramon Lepage
Warao women, Venezuela

August 9th is a great opportunity to celebrate the more than 370 million indigenous men, women and children worldwide. UNESCO’s Education Sector fights against the plight of indigenous people through the promotion of rights and values in Education and, via a developmental approach to learning needs, within the realm of inclusive Education.

Related links:

• Action in favor of indigenous peoples
• Cultural diversity and indigenous peoples
• The 2007 Indigenous Fellowship Program at UNESCO
• Inclusive Education