The Apu Palamguwan Cultural Education Center (APC), an upland indigenous school in Bendum, Bukidnon in northern Mindanao, Philippines invited Ms Victoria “Vicky” Tauli-Corpuz, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as the key speaker during the student graduation activity on 28 March.  APC runs a Kinder to Grade 12 basic culture-based education program for youth in the Upper Pulangi watershed and is formally recognized by the Philippine Department of Education. Vicky shared her work and experiences as she listened to the concerns and activities of indigenous groups in many parts of the world from the Amazon, the Congo Basin, in Latin America.  She stressed the distinct role and contribution of Indigenous Peoples in protecting and managing critical ecosystems, biodiversity, forest and water resources, hence locally and globally, indigenous communities with their knowledge and practices have much to share. Vicky also explained the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)  that established in September 2007 “a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of Indigenous Peoples of the world and elaborates on existing human rights standards and fundamental freedoms.” Ecojesuit shares the key points of Vicky’s address to the Pulangiyen youth: 1.
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