WHY ARE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES LEFT BEHIND IN THE SDGS MOVEMENT?
Despite the inclusive values of the SDGs, indigenous communities continue to be left behind, facing systemic obstacles that prevent their full participation and development. While great power is being placed on women, children and people with disabilities in SDGs and the 2030 agenda, the indigenous community has been left behind not only in campaigns but also in other progressive movements aimed on SDGs.
How Indigenous Communities Are Left Behind?
Many indigenous groups are facing land confiscation and invasion, thus weakening their ability to manage natural resources sustainably and maintain their cultural practices this makes Indigenous communities struggle to achieve economic sustainability and environmental conservation, thereby hindering progress towards many of the SDG goals.
Poor representation of indigenous voices in decision-making processes at local, national and international levels contributes to their exclusion from the SDGs agenda and so without their full involvement, the SDGs risk perpetuating disparities and failing to address the specific challenges faced by indigenous communities.
The prevalence of discrimination and prejudice against indigenous people perpetuates social and economic differences, thus preventing them from accessing important services and opportunities. This systematic exclusion undermines efforts to achieve the SDG goals related to poverty eradication, health, and social equity, and developmenta cycle of loss for indigenous peoples.
But Why Leaving Them Behind?
Many Indigenous communities, especially in Africa and Asia, have been left far behind in the SDG issues, especially Climate Change, Health and Well Being, Education, Zero Hunger among many others, this is due to the fact that they seem to be irrelevant or not affected in some way or maybe they are affectedin a small way. The truth is that these communities are going through bigger challenges and sometimes more than urban communities that have an understanding of climate change, its effects, and even SDG 17 as well.
As the Leave No One Behind campaign continues, indigenous communities are really left behind, for example, many indigenous communities in Tanzania, including the Maasai, do not have an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals in the world, while the world sits discussing in COPs and agreeing to do adaptability and resilience, many of these communities do not know anything about it.
When the governments of the world set a budget to reduce the challenges related to the SDGs to reduce hunger, diseases, climate change impacts, budhet on education, reduced inequality and reducing poverty among others, these communities have been included in a very small extent, or not included at all.
This brings the image that maybe because most of these communities are basing on farming then they seem like they are not affected by hunger, diseases, they don't need much education, they don't have health challenges but the truth is that these communities really need to be looked at and given priority like other groups because they are affected to a great extent.
For example, Maasai and Hadzabe communities depend on pastoralism and farming but durung this era of the effects of climate change, these communities have been hit hard by these effects that, the rains do not fall in their usual pattern, the animals die for lack of food, rivers and water reservoirs are drying up, which is the main source of water for those communities (if you ignore the fact that the water is not safe because all the activities take place there).
Now then, my question is Why are these communities being forgotten? Are they not residents of the respective nations? Do they not have the same rights as other citizens? Do they not contribute to the economy? Are the challenges of the SDGs, especially Education, Health and Climate, not reaching them? The answer is NO.
In conclusion, States should look at these communities more closely and give them the attention they need as another special group, so as not to leave a single person behind, international organizations, NGOs and development stakeholders should see these communities differently and not use them to earn income but to support them and achieve the goals of the SDGs as intended.
By defending the rights, knowledge, and participation of indigenous peoples in the SDGs movement, we can build a more inclusive and effective approach to global development, embracing the diversity of indigenous cultures, respecting their traditional wisdom, promoting their meaningful participation to SDGs movement, and ensuring their land rights are all important steps towards achieving the SDGs' inclusiveness and potentials for indigenous communities and to the whole world to reach the goals as intended.
