More than 300 million strong, the world’s indigenous peoples are beginning to make themselves heard, in international arenas like the new United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and at the national level, where their growing numbers are translating into political muscle. Via its local writers, IPS endeavours to transmit these indigenous voices and untangle their issues for a global audience.
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KENYA: In the Aftermath of a Massacre
Darren Taylor
NAIROBI – He describes himself as an old man, and one ignorant of many things in life — especially “women and the ways of Waq (God)”. But Huka Kanchoro, a wizened Borana elder, knows that he holds a position of influence in the northern Kenyan district of Marsabit.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29683

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COLOMBIA: Indigenous Women Brave War Zone to Express Solidarity
By Constanza Vieira
BOGOTA – A caravan of around 1,250 indigenous and afro-Colombian women and women’s rights activists drove Saturday into an area of southwestern Colombia that is caught up in fighting between leftist guerrillas and the army, for a “Visit to the Family”.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29631

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TSUNAMI-IMPACT: Acehnese Women Rediscover Role in Society
By Fabio Scarpello
JAKARTA – Women once ruled the defunct Sultanate of Aceh whose history speaks of women admirals and matriliny. But after the principality merged into a larger Indonesia in 1949, women became marginalised and it took a devastating tsunami for them to rediscover their traditionally dominant role in Acehnese society.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29648

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NEPAL: Indigenous People Seek More, Get Less
By Marty Logan
KATHMANDU – The glass bangles on their arms are shattered, they are forbidden to put saffron-coloured powder in their hair and to wear red — reserved for those ‰blessed‰ with a husband — for the rest of their lives. Widows in Hindu societies are traditionally treated in ways that today have become striking symbols of paternalism.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29588

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RIGHTS: Yes to Miss Tibet, No to Miss Tibet-China
By Ugyen Tsewang
DHARAMSALA, India – Tibetan youths, in this Indian Himalayan town, are furious that Miss Tibet has been barred from participating in a beauty pageant in Malaysia after China lodged an official complaint with the organisers. Beijing, in turn, wants Miss Tibet Tashi Yangchen to compete as Miss Tibet-China instead.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29599

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MEXICO: 120,000 Missing Children
By Adrián Reyes
MEXICO CITY – Four-year-old Ian was kidnapped from his home near Mexico City. His body, showing signs that he had been severely beaten and sexually abused, was found shortly afterwards under a hotel room bed by the cleaning staff.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29675

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ITALY: Tourism with a Social Conscience Gains Popularity
By Francesca Colombo – Tierramerica
ROME – Increasingly more “social tourists” are opting to spend a few weeks with residents of the Peruvian Andes or the Tibetan Himalayas, instead of spending their money in the posh hotels of the European capitals or the luxury resorts of Asia.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29674

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SRI LANKA: Triangular Struggle Threatens Truce with Tigers
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO – As a triangular struggle for control of the island country‚s restive East, among the Tamil Tigers, a renegade faction led by ‘Col. Karuna’ and the Sri Lankan army worsens, observers fear that the fragile truce brokered by Norway in February 2000 is about to come unstuck.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29664

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Badawi Ushers in New Era for Malays and Malaysians
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR – A new man brings a new style. But beyond the style – softer, less parochial and more consensus-seeking – Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has also brought in a new vision for Malaysians.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29630

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Pakistan Hit by Islamist Backlash
By M B Naqvi
KARACHI – Spiralling conflict between the Pakistan army and Islamist militants along the Afghan border, straddled by pro- Taliban, Pashtoon tribes, has led security analysts to talk of a full- fledged insurgency that poses a graver threat to the country than admitted by authorities.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29627

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MIDEAST: Gaza Will Be ‘Vacated But Still Occupied’
Ushani Agalawatta
JERUSALEM – A growing number of Palestinians are beginning to believe that Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip will not mean the end of occupation.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29684

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MIDEAST: Where Homeland Means Humiliation
By Ushani Agalawatta
NABLUS, West Bank – “Before the 2000 Al-Aqsa Intifadah I was very optimistic. I was ambitious and strong, but now I do not feel strong any more. We are all frustrated in our small prison,” says Sawsan Aishe, a 24-year-old graduate from An Najah National University in Nablus in the West Bank.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29602

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BOLIVIA: Getting Off the Streets on the Cold Winter Nights
By Franz Chávez
LA PAZ – Cold nights can spell death for homeless people on the streets of La Paz in the southern hemisphere winter. But a new municipal programme in this city located 3600 metres above sea level is now offering emergency shelter and two square meals during the coldest months of the year.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29585

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BRAZIL: Crackdown Not Enough to Stop Amazon Deforestation
By Mario Osava – Tierramerica
RIO DE JANEIRO – Operation Curupira looked like a spectacular triumph in defence of the Amazon forests. It dismantled corruption and fraud network that had helped make the central-western Brazilian state of Mato Grosso the nation’s leader in deforestation.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29570

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INDONESIA: Aceh Deal May Give Regional Parties a Chance
Analysis by Andreas Harsono
KUPANG, Indonesia – Devastating though it was, the Asian Tsunami brought the proverbial winds of change to Indonesia by focusing international attention on the festering conflict in Aceh province and creating conditions for a political settlement that may yet instruct other ethnic groups.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=29546

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And many more: ipsnews.net/new_focus/indigenous_peoples/

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IPS focuses its news coverage on the events and global processes affecting the economic, social and political development of peoples and nations.

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