On April 21-May 2, 2025, the 24th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) took place. This year’s session theme focused on "Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples within United Nations Member States and the United Nations system, including identifying good practices and addressing challenges.” Over 1500 delegates attended with a significant youth presence despite visa challenges in the current political climate and raised concerns over the lack of implementation of the Declaration.
Cultural Survival was on the ground working to amplify Indigenous voices and Indigenous-led solutions. We partnered with the UNPFII and UNDESA to run the Indigenous Media Zone, hosted and cohosted several side events, parallel events, and discussions, and supported our fellows and grant partners in their advocacy efforts by hosting events and organizing meetings with several government missions and key experts. Thank you to all who crossed paths with us and collaborated with us!
We are grateful to have been able to support the participation of two youth fellows from Ecuador, Cindy Sisa Andy Aguinda (Kichwa) of Fundación Cotococha y el Centro de Investigación Científica Iyarina, and María José Andrade Cerda (Kichwa), as well as our partners from Bolivia--Guadalupe Fernandez Gonzales (Quechua) from the Sura Nation of the Ayllu Acre Antequera and Pastor Carvajal Blanco (Aymara) from Seque Jahuira, and Novenia Ambeua of the Helewo Ruru Foundation in Indonesia.
Watch the Opening Ceremony and Main Sessions
The recordings of the Opening Ceremony of the 24th Session of the UNPFII of general sessions and side events are available here.
Panel at the IMZ (L-R): Rachael Johnson- Tallgrass Institute, Kristen Moreland - Executive Director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, Crystal Frank-Welker - Gwich’in language learner and transcriber from Arctic Village, Alaska, Quannah Chasinghorse (Hän Gwich’in and Sicangu Oglala Lakota)- Indigenous land protector and model
Watch the Livestreams from the Indigenous Media Zone of the UNPFII
Read Interventions Made and Submitted by Cultural Survival and Partners
Pastor Carvajal Blanco is an Aymara land defender and Indigenous authority of the Seque Jawira community in the department of La Paz, Bolivia. Since 2010, he has been actively involved in his community’s struggle against 23 mining companies, during which he and his brothers and sisters have faced threats, defamation, and physical attacks from mining company employees. Before the arrival of these companies, like many in his community, Pastor Carvajal dedicated himself exclusively to agriculture and dairy farming. Today, however, his community is severely contaminated with cyanide, mercury, sulfuric acid, and other toxic chemicals. As a result, he, along with many others in his and neighboring communities, has lost his sources of income, and raising livestock is no longer possible because animals are dying from drinking polluted water. He demands respect for Indigenous rights, particularly the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, by both mining companies and the Bolivian state. Watch his intervention and read it here.
Cindy Kobei, Aimee Roberson, and Whitney Gravelle sit on a panel,“Protecting Land, Rights, and Future Generations: Indigenous Women on the Frontlines of Climate Action and Earth Defense,”hosted by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network during the United Nations Permanent Forum on April 22 in New York. Photo by Katherine Quaid/WECAN. Watch the recording of the panel here.
“Our traditional knowledge systems are powerful...We draw on the strength of our ancestors, whose persistent resistance to oppression, greed, and extractivism ensured that we are here today.” - Aimee Roberson (Choctaw and Chickasaw), Cultural Survival Executive Director
Thank you to the Ford Foundation for hosting our Executive Director, Aimee Roberson (Choctaw and Chickasaw), alongside Tristan Ahtone (Kiowa), Editor at Large at Grist, for an evening with Charles Blow on Monday night, Ideas at Ford: Centering Indigenous Voices in the Climate Movement. It was a wonderful event that sparked thoughtful conversation and connections! Photo by Ford Foundation.
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Cultural Survival advocates for Indigenous Peoples' rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and political resilience since 1972. We envision a future that respects and honors Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures, deeply and richly interwoven in lands, languages, spiritual traditions, and artistic expression, rooted in self-determination and self-governance.
