UN resident coordinator talks about the plight of the Lumads

Dear Friends,

I'm sharing with you the statement made by Mr. Ola Almgren, the UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines, during a PIPELINES session on Dec. 8 on the Lot of the Lumads - Human Rights Challenges of the IPs of Mindanao.  PIPELINES, or the Progressive Ideas and Perspectives Learning Series, is an informal forum on the pertinent issues of the day and is organized by the Office of the Political Adviser (OPA) in Malacanang.

As you shall see, Mr. Almgren's statement on the plight of the Lumads is quite strong. His main calls are:

The short term actions would be:

• To disarm and disband all armed groups and arrest and prosecute those responsible for violence and/or criminal activities;

• To provide full protection to civilians in accordance with IHL and ensure that non-combatants are not subject to persecution, harassment or violence, including as a result of their political beliefs;

• To ensure that law and order is consistently and effectively maintained throughout Mindanao.

And the longer term actions would be:

• To significantly strengthen access to and delivery of quality essential social services to IP communities through civilian line government agencies;

• To fully and comprehensively implement the Indigenous People's Rights Act (IPRA) and address the challenges that currently impede its proper functioning;

• To pursue a full and meaningful resumption of the peace process between the GoP and the CPP-NPA-NDF.

Note that my sharing of this document does not reflect the position of Human Rights Watch.

Hope you find this useful.

Carlos Conde

Human Rights Watch

Contribution by Mr. Ola Almgren

United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator as reactor at the PIPELINES Session on

The Lot of the Lumads - Human Rights Challenges of the Indigenous Peoples of Mindanao

Organized by the Office of the Political Advisor in the Office of the President on 8 December 2015 at Kalayaan Hall, Malacañang

Honorable Members of Government, Excellencies, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat (Good afternoon to all of you!)

The Charter of the United Nations, signed in June 1945 with the Philippines as one of its signatories, states that we the peoples of the United Nations, is determined "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom."

Three years later, on 10 December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that, for the first time in history, set out a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations articulating fundamental human rights to be universally protected.  Again, the Philippines, together with 47 other Member States, were the founding signatories to the Declaration and in so being, combined with the UN charter, made sure that Human Rights became part of the genetic code of the United Nations, part of our DNA.

Over the years of experiences, some of them unfortunately devastating in terms of human rights, our Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2013 launched an internal initiative - Human Rights up Front - which re-affirms the centrality of human rights in the work of the UN system and seeks to ensure that the UN consistently takes early and effective action to prevent or respond to large-scale human rights or humanitarian law violations and to ensure that human rights and the protection of civilians are understood as a UN system-wide core responsibility.

So, as you can imagine, it is truly a great pleasure and an absolute privilege for me, as a representative of the United Nations, to have been invited as a reactor to this session of Pipelines on the very topical issue; "The Lot of the Lumads." I wish to congratulate and commend the Office of the President for holding this session.  In addition to the timeliness and great importance of the subject, I also note that the session is held only two day away from International Human Rights Day on 10 December.  What better way to put the spotlight on a very real human rights challenge right here in the Philippines!

The 1987 Philippines Constitution enshrines the principles on the promotion and protection of human rights.  The same is true of other important national legislation.

With regard to the recognition of indigenous peoples, the Philippines is at the forefront globally in terms of its legal frameworks. IP rights are included in numerous articles of the Constitution and, most importantly, in the 1997 Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.  A landmark and far-reaching piece of legislation in which the individual and collective basic rights of IPs are enshrined.

In 2007, the Philippines was one of 144 Member States to vote in favor of the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).  This declaration is a historic achievement following a generation of work and which, for the first time internationally, lays out critical human rights standards for the world's 370 million indigenous people.

With a strong normative framework securely in place, the Government can focus its efforts on ensuring a meaningful and comprehensive implementation of the existing laws that uphold and protect the rights of IPs.  I believe this is one of the key areas where the partnership with the UN can be of value.  As you know, the UN works in support of the government, national and local actors in three overarching areas which make up the three pillars of the UN - peace and security, social and economic development and human rights.  All of that work is done with a particular focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized populations.

With regard to IPs, the first United Nations publication on the State of the World's IPs released in January 2010 revealed alarming statistics on poverty, health, education, employment, human rights, environment and more.  A 2012 report by the World Bank noted that while IPs make up only 5% of the world's population, they constitute 15% of the world's most poor, and suffer systemic exclusion from political and economic power.

The IPs in the Philippines also face many challenges in the context of development, peace and security and human rights, most notably in Mindanao which is home to the largest population of IPs, where the overall socio-economic indicators are some of the lowest in the country and where there has been long-standing armed conflict.

The UN appreciates and shares the grave concerns expressed over the past months by the Department of Justice, the Commission on Human Rights and the National Commission on IPs, the UN Special Rapporteur on IPs, Ms. Victoria Tauli Corpus (a Filipina), by Cardinal Tagle and others as well as the Lumads themselves on the reports of human rights violations this year, including killings, recruitments into various armed groups, harassment and threats, displacement, disruption to schools and livelihoods and the continued threat to the security and integrity of their ancestral domain.

In the context of peace and security, the UN welcomes the September statement by the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violence.  We look forward to a swift and transparent process with findings that will be made public.  The Lumads have for decades been disproportionately affected by the conflict and, as stated by the CHR, have long been exploited for political use by all parties to the conflict.  This must stop.  The UN agrees with the many calls for local armed groups, including IP armed groups, to urgently and systematically be disarmed and disbanded and stopped from engaging in violence and criminal activities.  The State must ensure that law and order is consistently maintained in all communities.

Carlos H. Conde

Philippines Researcher

Human Rights Watch

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @condeHRW

Skype: carlosconde