Indigenous peoples are vulnerable to human rights

M E D I A A D V I S O R Y

The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP) and the New Zealand Human Rights Commission (NZHRC) cordially invite you to cover the Philippine launching of its three-year partnership program, the Human Rights Community Development Project, to be held on THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2008, at 10:00 in the morning at the CHR grounds in Diliman, Quezon City.

Indigenous peoples are particularly vulnerable to human rights deprivations and abuses thus, after a series of consultations and meetings, the consensus emerged that a significant human rights challenge in the Philippines is how to translate the Constitutional guarantees, the laws and strong policies asserting human rights into effective practice in the grassroots and in communities. The focus of the joint project is on three predominantly indigenous communities selected according to critera agreed upon by the project partners-- Kankan-ey of Kibungan in Benguet, the Higaonon of Esperanza in Agusan del Sur, and the Badjao of Jolo, Sulu and Basilan.

We invited President Gloria Macapagal-Aroyo to deliver the keynote speech. We will be joined by the elders from each of the three indigenous communities, a Maori representative from New Zealand, members of the diplomatic community, UN agencies, international organizations, concerned government officials in the national and local levels, NGOs.

THANK YOU AND SEE YOU ALL THERE!