UNESCO and partners commemorate International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

In the western region of Minahasa, Indonesia, a young woman affectionately known in her indigenous community simply as ‘Iren’ recounts to a visiting filmmaker her recent decision to remain in her village and dedicate herself to cultivating her ancestral farmland.

For Iren, tending to the land constitutes more than a mere occupation: it represents a sacred duty to safeguard the inheritance left to her by her ancestors. The memories imprinted on the soil and the wisdom passed down through generations find a perpetual abode in the fields she now cultivates not only for herself, but for those who will come after her.

‘Let’s go home and let’s farm’, Iren exclaims at the end of her interview. ‘Because the place that we call home is Kelelondey. Wherever we go, we will always come home to Kelelondey.’

Iren’s short film story is one of several recently produced by young indigenous researchers from South and South-East Asia as part of their participation in the Hooked on Peace project, an 18-month initiative by UNESCO, the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, and the International Youth Media Summit, with support provided by the Government of Japan. The project aims to empower indigenous youth in documenting stories, traditions, and practices from their communities.

In celebration of this year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (9 August), the stories collected to date under the Hooked on Peace project—as well as under other initiatives supported by UNESCO aimed at empowering indigenous communities in Asia and the Pacific—will be presented through the online event, ‘Indigenous Youth as Agents of Change for Self-Determination'. The event will take place on 9 August from 17.00–20.00 Bangkok time (GMT + 7).

Opening remarks will be provided by representatives of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, and UNESCO Bangkok. This will be followed by presentations and screenings of short films produced under the project, a panel discussion with the young researchers/filmmakers, and presentations by representatives of UNESCO Bangkok initiatives on language-in-education and language heritage preservation, as well as the digital empowerment of indigenous communities in Asia-Pacific.