Yachay Wasi's Work at the United Nations
YACHAY WASI, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) based in New York City, USA, and in Cuzco, Peru, was granted consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations on May 4, 2001. It has been associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) since March 27, 1997. Yachay Wasi was admitted in Operational Relations with UNESCO in 2007.
ACTIVITIES
WORLD DAY FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY FOR DIALOGUE AND DEVELOPMENT
21 May 2003 at UN Hqrs - Sponsored by UNESCO in collaboration with Yachay Wasi "Cultural Heritage and Sacred Sites: World Heritage from an Indigenous Perspective", a Panel discussion, took place on May 15, 2002 at New York University as a parallel event of the First Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The report which contains speeches and 33 sacred sites studies from world Indigenous communities was compiled by Marie-Danielle Samuel, Yachay Wasi, main organizer for this event. Report was mailed to members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and to all involved in the event.
1 - NGO Committee on the UN
International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples: In October 1991 at the United
Nations, Eliane Lacroix-Hopson, International Romani Union-NGO/ECOSOC,
co-sponsored a NGO Committee toward the 1993 UN International Year of the
World's Indigenous Peoples. The Year's theme was "Indigenous Peoples:
A New Partnership". From the start, Marie-Danielle Samuel, Mono Adventures
(partnership with Luis Delgado Hurtado), was invited to join the NGO Committee.
After the UN General Assembly
voted in 1994 to continue the work of the International Year during a Decade,
the Committee enlarged its mandate to become the NGO Committee on the UN
International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Luis Delgado Hurtado and
Marie-Danielle Samuel decided to participate fully in the work of the United Nations as the non-profit Yachay Wasi. On the NGO Committee, Marie-Danielle Samuel was Treasurer (1997-2000) and subsequently Vice Chair (2001-2002) until her resignation from the NGO Committee on May 28, 2002. The UN International Decade of
the World's Indigenous Peoples' theme is: "Indigenous Peoples: Partnership
in Action". During the years 1995 - 2004, it has two outstanding goals
among many others: The NGO Committee on the UN International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples participated in the Earth Summit + 5 Special Session in June 97 at UN Hqrs, where Yachay
Wasi manned an information table at the week long parallel Global Forum.
The International Day of the World's
Indigenous Peoples is commemorated yearly on August 9, anniversary of the
establishment in 1982 of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations,
following a 1994 General Assembly decision. The first celebration took
place at UN Hqrs in 1995 and has been held there since. It starts with
a Sacred Pipe Ceremony for World Peace and continues with panel discussions
on Indigenous issues. Panels includes world Indigenous representatives
and UN agencies officers. The public is invited but requires special passes to enter UN conference rooms.
Luis Delgado Hurtado, President of Yachay Wasi, performed an Inka blessing at the 2001 commemoration.
The UN Department of Public Information
(DPI) published a section on Indigenous Rights which was part of the Year official press kit. DPI has also available translations
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
Indigenous languages,
including Quechua of Qosqo (Cuzco).
In 1999, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was awarded the Guiness World Record for having translated and disseminated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in more than 300 languages and dialects.
The World Conference against Racism took place in Durban, South Africa in September 2001.
The officers of Yachay Wasi visited the Paris Hqrs in 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 and have sent their newsletter regularly to some of UNESCO officers.
There was a small collaboration in 1998 with UNESCO's World Heritage Centre for Yachay Wasi's Photographic Exhibit "Inka Legacy: Cultural Heritage and the New Generations" July 16 - August 16, 1998 at Edison Community College in Fort Myers, Florida
Machu Picchu and Cuzco, which are among the selected sites, were featured in the exhibit of 56 photographs of the people and places of the Peruvian Andes by Luis Delgado Hurtado was one of Yachay Wasi's artistic contributions to the United Nations 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with special mention of the Draft Declaration on Indigenous Rights.
In May 1996, UNESCO was informed of Yachay Wasi's campaign "Inka Challenge" protesting the display in the USA of the 500 years old frozen remains of an Inka girl.
Yachay Wasi voiced its appreciation of the memorable adoption (November 11, 1997) of the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, the first international text on the ethics of genetic research, by the UNESCO General Conference.
This Declaration had won the support of Indigenous Peoples and our own NGO Committee and is part of the issues of Biological Diversity.
A direct result of this meeting was the participation of Yachay Wasi president, at the funded invitation of UNESCO, in UNESCO World Heritage Indigenous Peoples Council Of Experts (WHIPCOE) workshop in Winnipeg, Canada in November 2001. Yachay Wasi, on behalf of the NGO Committee on the UN International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples and in collaboration with New York University School of Law, planned and organized a Panel Discussion on May 15, 2002 entitled:Cultural Heritage and Sacred Sites: World Heritage from an Indigenous Perspective. One of the nine speakers was the Representative of UNESCO to the UNITED Nations, another was an Officer from UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
2 - Until May 2002, Yachay Wasi was also a member of the Working Group on the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Marie-Danielle Samuel was in charge of media and public relations.
3 - 1998 was the 50th
Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many activities
were planned during this year. It was launched on December 10, 1997 at UN
Hqrs, NYC with a meeting in the ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) chamber
with featured speakers including First Lady Hillary Clinton and Dr. Purificacion
Quisumbing, Representative of Mrs. Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for
Human Rights (Coordinator of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous
Peoples).
4 - Yachay Wasi is also involved in environmental
issues thru participation in meetings of the Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD), created as a result of 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Yachay Wasi is accredited with the upcoming 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.
5
Yachay Wasip 'Simin' (The
Voice of Yachay Wasi) newsletter has been reviewed and approved by
the Dag Hammarsjköld Library at the United Nations in NYC and can
be viewed in its premises.
6 - The main focus of Yachay Wasi is the culture
of the Indigenous peoples of Peru and their ancestors...Inka...Chimu...Nazca...
Consequently, the officers of Yachay Wasi are interested with the work of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization agency based in Paris, France.
7> - In June 2001, Yachay Wasi held its first successful and historic Encounter of Indigenous Communities in the High Andes, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in the village of Acopia, Peru to inform about the establishment of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the September 2001 World Conference Against Racism.
