Indigenous people among poorest, U.N. official says

UNITED NATIONS – Indigenous people remain among the world’s poorest and most marginalized and are often disproportionately victimized by the effects of armed conflict, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette told some 1,500 native leaders and activists.

Addressing Monday’s opening session of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Frechette urged indigenous people and the international community to draw up concrete plans “that would point the way toward measurable improved standards of living and greater respect for human rights.”

The Permanent Forum, which will meet until May 27, is focusing on two key U.N. development goals – eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and achieving universal primary education. Achieving the goals will be high on the agenda at a summit of world leaders called by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in September.

Frechette said the forum was drawing “welcome attention to neglected issues” and playing a major role in forging new partnerships between indigenous peoples, governments and the U.N. system.

“Yet grave challenges persist,” she said. “In many countries, indigenous people continue to be among the poorest and the most marginalized. Like other vulnerable people, indigenous communities are often disproportionately victimized by the effects of armed conflict, adding a destructive and deadly burden to already difficult U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called poverty a denial of human rights.