Appeal for Indigenous Peoples in Central African Republic

The future for indigenous peoples in Central African Republic is about to change. As one of the only charities working on indigenous peoples rights in the region we need your support.

Earlier this year, a small country in Africa, the Central African Republic, affirmed its commitment to the rights of indigenous peoples by signing the only binding international treaty on the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, (ILO Convention 169). The Central African Republic is the first African country to take this important step and we hope others will follow its example.

Translating these new commitments into a living reality will be a huge challenge. If we don't act now, this new law could be implemented without the involvement of the very people it is aiming to protect, or worse, not implemented at all.

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Indigenous peoples in central Africa face severe marginalisation and discrimination in almost every aspect of their day to day lives. From one day to the next they can see their lands and livelihoods given away without consultation or consent.

To put this in context, indigenous peoples in the Central African Republic are among the poorest of the poor in a country that ranks as the 3rd poorest in the world. (The Central African Republic ranks 179th out of 182 in the United Nations Development Index which takes into account life expectancy, education and standard of living).

Indigenous peoples depend on hunting and gathering for their livelihoods and live in extreme poverty, without secure access to the lands on which they depend for their survival. Unfortunately, the majority of indigenous peoples are not even aware of their basic human rights to healthcare, education, cultural identity, access to justice and land.  This means that from one day to the next they can see their lands and livelihoods given away without consultation or consent. They are also often subject to conditions of slavery throughout Central Africa.

With your support RFUK will be working to ensure that indigenous peoples' rights are respected, through the implementation of new laws for the protection of indigenous peoples' rights.

We want to ensure that indigenous peoples are aware of their rights and can take part in the decisions being made about their lands and livelihoods.

With your support we will:

Give indigenous peoples a voice -we will build and strengthen local and national indigenous peoples'  organisations that can stand up for the rights of their communities.

Ensure laws are adopted - and implemented. Even with the adoption of laws to protect indigenous peoples' rights, there is no guarantee that they will actually be implemented without support.

Ensure they know their rights - we will train local organisatons so that they understand the legal background surrounding indigenous peoples rights and can actually make sure these rights are respected.

The Rainforest Foundation is the one of the only charities working on indigenous peoples' rights in Central African Republic. 

Donate your small change to see big change here.

Reach into your pocket, that change could make the difference.