IPACC held its second side event at a UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) in Doha, Qatar in late 2012. The event involved contributions by indigenous pastoralist leaders from Chad, Niger and Kenya. The IPACC film shot in southern Chad on water stress and conflict resolution between nomadic and sedentary communities was launched at the COP. IPACC's focus was on the relationship between traditional knowledge and Islamic values. A Bahraini expert in Qur'anic interpretation of the environment assisted in the side event which was warmly received by African and Asian delegates.
COP11 & ABS Training in Bujumbura
IPACC members prepared for the 11th
Conference of Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In cooperation with the Secretariat of the CBD, GiZ and Indigenous Information Network, up to 50 indigenous peoples and local community representatives from Africa gathered from 11 to 13 June 2012 in Bujumbura, Burundi for a preparatory meeting on COP11. The meeting focused on issues relevant to indigenous peoples, including Articles 8j and 10c on traditional knowledge, the Aichi Strategic Plan, the Programme of Work on Protected Areas and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. This was followed by a GiZ training course on ABS and the Nagoya Protocol. COP11 will take place in Hyderabad, India in October.
Rio+20
IPACC members have prepared a report on the UNEP Green Economy Initiative (see ||Hui!gaeb report here under publications). The report is to be released online and in print. The report, developed in cooperation with Natural Justice and OSISA, focuses on the human rights of indigenous peoples, the natural resource economy of indigenous peoples, the problem of commodification of lands and nature, and the need to integrate ecological principles into African economics.
IPACC delegates will join the world at the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil in June 2012. This marks the 20th anniversary of the original UN Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio in 1992. Indigenous peoples and others have expressed their concern about the failure of the current political dispensations to tackle the combined crises of climate change, land degradation, pollution, and declining biodiversity on which most African indigenous peoples rely.
Rio will be a time to reassess global governance and accountable democracy in the 21st century.
Participatory mapping in Chad
IPACC continued its project on integrating traditional knowledge of pastoralists into National Adaptation Policies and Platforms. IPACC in cooperation with AFPAT, UNESCO and CTA conducted Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling with M'Bororo herders in Chad in August 2012. This material will help the pastoralists speak to meteorologists and government about the changing climate and food insecurity for nomadic indigenous peoples. The event was welcomed by the Republic of Chad as a significant contribution to understanding climate adaptation and conflict resolution. The closing event was convened by his Excellency, the Governor of the Province of Logone Oriental and representatives of the national government.
IPACC is developing a pledge to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change's Nairobi Work Programme on the integration of TK into NAPs and NAPAs.
IUCN World Conservation Congress
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) held its World Conservation Congress in Jeju, South Korea in September 2012. IPACC is a member of IUCN and participated in the Regional Conservation Forums in Brazzaville, Rabat and Johannesburg in 2011, in preparation for the Congress.
IPACC held a Knowledge Cafe on the rights of indigenous peoples in relation to World Heritage Sites in Africa. The event included participation by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and staff from the IUCN, as well as NGOs. The event considered the compliance of multilateral agencies and national governments to international norms and standards on the rights of indigenous peoples and human rights more broadly.
His Highness, Sultan Oumarou Ibrahim Oumarou, traditional leader of the Tuareg people of northern Niger represented IPACC on a high level panel of religious leaders speaking about faith and values in environmental conservation and social justice.
IPACC's mission
IPACC's purpose is to unite diverse community based indigenous peoples' organisations into a network and alliance for effective advocacy. IPACC's elected Executive Committee is dedicated to the co-ordination of advocacy strategy and activities which promote the rights and voices of indigenous peoples at national, sub-regional, African and international levels.
IPACC promotes recognition of and respect for indigenous peoples in Africa; promotes participation of indigenous African peoples in United Nations' events and other international forums, and strengthens leadership and organisational capacity of indigenous civil society in Africa.
IPACC supports contact visits between indigenous peoples and inter-country cooperation and training. IPACC also conducts pilot projects related to the inter-generational transmission of traditional knowledge of biodiversity; sustainable livelihoods and equitable access and use of natural resources; participatory landscape mapping; the assessment and certification of tradtional knowledge of tracking; and innovative approaches to fighting poverty.
IPACC works in
partnership with the Technical Centre for Agricultural Cooperation with Rural Areas (CTA EU-ACP); Cybertracker Foundation; African Biodiversity Network; the Pan-African Climate Justice Network; the SA Climate Action Network, the Documentation Centre for Indigenous Peoples (DoCIP), Conservation International, WWF International, Indigenous Information Network, Wildlife Conservation Society, the Global Diversity Foundation, Nederlands Centrum voor Inheemse Volke, and UNESCO's working group on Education for Sustainable Development. IPACC is a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and host of the Secretariat for the Theme on Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities, Equity and Protected Areas.
IPACC is accredited with the UN Economic and Social Council, the UN Environment Programme, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the UN Educational Scientific, Cultural and Communications Organisation (UNESCO). IPACC has observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. IPACC is in strategic cooperation with the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Agnes Leina (Kenya) has been elected as the regional women's coordinator for the continental network.
The legal concept of 'indigenous' rights in Africa is a new one but is being integrated into Africa constitutions and case law. All Africans are 'indigenous' in the literal sense of the word. The rise of an organised civil society claiming rights as indigenous peoples is tied to major economic and environmental changes in Africa which are putting nomadic, transhumant, hunting and herding peoples at risk. 
IPACC affirms three core principles: participation of indigenous peoples in decision making, pluralism in African economies that allow for sustainable hunting and gathering, nomadic pastoralism, fishing and other non-agricultural activities in arid, semi arid and humid forest areas, partnership between indigenous peoples, their respective States and the private sector to find sustainable and mutually acceptable solutions to challenges of the environment, quality of life and good governance.
