Kathmandu. The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is being celebrated across the globe today with the objective of protecting the rights, identity, culture and way of life of the world’s indigenous peoples and raising global awareness about their problems.

On December 23, 1994, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed August 9 as International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. August 9 was the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva in 1982.

According to the United Nations, there are about 476 million indigenous peoples living in 90 countries around the world. They make up less than 6 percent of the world’s population, but they make up at least 15 percent of the world’s poorest people. They speak the vast majority of the estimated seven thousand languages spoken in the world, and represent about five thousand different cultures.

Indigenous peoples have preserved their own knowledge and practice of distinct cultures, traditions, and the relationship between people and nature for generations. Their social, cultural, economic and political characteristics are different from the majority of the communities they live in.

Indigenous peoples have long struggled for recognition of identity, traditional way of life and rights over ancestral land, territory and natural resources. Their rights have been violated at various times throughout history and are still among the world’s most disadvantaged and most vulnerable communities, according to the United Nations.

The international community recognizes the need for special measures to protect the rights of indigenous peoples and to maintain their unique culture and way of life. On the occasion of this day, emphasis is laid on the protection of the rights, culture, language, traditional knowledge and relationship of indigenous peoples with natural resources, as well as their meaningful participation in the decision-making process.

This day calls attention to the contributions of indigenous peoples around the world and the challenges they face, calling on governments, civil society and the international community to commit to ensuring their rights and dignity.