Dialogues on Indigenous Peoples’ territories: stories of resilience | Session VI: Indigenous Peoples in Africa, Challenges and Complexities
Online event. Registration required
Interpretation: English and French
With Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Mbororo woman, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Vital Bambanze, Batwa people, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Hosted by Luisa Castaneda-Quintana, Doctoral Candidate, McGill University
About the series
The Dialogues on Indigenous Peoples’ territories: stories of resilience is an initiative to start conversations on Indigenous Peoples, their realities, endeavours, and positive contributions on issues of global concern. The objective will involve students, scholars, the faculty, civil society, and the larger public in meaningful discussions to foster theoretical and practical engagement to advance Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The dialogues are coordinated by McGill Doctoral Candidate Luisa Castaneda-Quintana, in collaboration with McGill Doctoral Candidate Giusto Amedeo Boccheni, the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism and the Indigenous Law Association / Association du Droit Autochtone (ILADA).
The guests will delve into the challenges and complexities faced by Indigenous Peoples in Africa, discussing about recognition of Indigenous Peoples in the regions, livelihoods, collective rights, and climate change.
About the speakers
Ms. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an Indigenous Mbororo woman from Chad. She is an expert in Indigenous Peoples’ traditional ecological knowledge and climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. She served as Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change in COP20, COP21, COP22, COP23, which pushed for greater recognition of the role of Indigenous Peoples in the fight against climate change. Hailing from a Mbororo pastoralist community in Chad, Ms. Ibrahim founded the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) and works to empower Indigenous Peoples’ voices and ensure their inclusion on international platforms.
She leads a number of projects that aim to improve Indigenous Peoples’ access to basic services, while also promoting their unique contribution to the protection of the environment at the local and national level. For example, Ms. Ibrahim conducts three-dimensional participatory mapping, which helps to prevent resource-based conflicts in one of the poorest and most vulnerable regions of the world, and has also worked on implementing local solutions to improve women’s resilience to climate change. Ms. Ibrahim gained recognition for her work and in 2019, she became the Laureate of the prestigious Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award.
Mr. Vital Bambanze is a former Senator (2010-2015) of Burundi and representative of the Batwa Indigenous Peoples in the Senate of Burundi. He is currently Director of Unite for the Promotion of Batwa (UNIPROBA), an organization created by the Batwa for the Batwa. Mr. Bambanze was one of its founding members in 1999. He holds a degree in African Languages and Literatures from the University of Burundi.
For more information: luisa.castanedaquintana [at] mail.mcgill.ca
