First published on 06/22/2013, and last updated on 06/27/2017
Harry Jonas, J. Eli Makagon and Holly Shrumm, 2013
Direct links to pdfs: English | Spanish
Summary: Indigenous peoples and local communities often ask what their rights are at the international level. The answer to this crucial question is complicated for several reasons, including the fact that the provisions containing the rights are spread across a wide range of international instruments, each with its own particular focus. As a result, Indigenous peoples and local communities are denied an easily accessible means of learning about the full spectrum of their rights relating to issues such as developments on their territories, lands and waters and the use of their natural resources and knowledge.
To address this deficiency, and to help answer to the question posed above, Natural Justice has produced The Living Convention. Using an integrated rights approach, the Living Convention provides a range of the most important provisions relating to the linkages between Indigenous peoples and local communities and, among other things, their territories, lands, natural resources, and knowledge systems. It sets them out in an ordered manner, grouping similar provisions under the same heading to enable the reader to quickly assess the extent of international law relating to specific issues. In this way, the Living Convention aims to democratize international law by providing a straightforward resource for Indigenous peoples, local communities, and their supporting organizations to refer to when seeking to understand their international rights.
