International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

Each year, on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we honour the approximately 476 million Indigenous voices across the globe and reaffirm our commitment to protecting their rights, traditions and ways of life in an ever-evolving world. Today, Indigenous Peoples worldwide are using artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies to map territories, document languages, monitor the effects of climate disruption and create new forms of cultural expression. Artificial intelligence holds the potential to enhance the transmission of ancestral knowledge. Yet, without safeguards in place to ensure its ethical and inclusive development, it risks causing digital exclusion, reinforcing harmful biases and distorting Indigenous languages. That is why this year’s celebration is being held under the theme of “Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures” – focusing on both the promises and perils of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, while high...

When the glacier disappears, a new epoch will begin.”This prophecy, passed down by the Quechua people of the Peruvian Andes, is no longer a distant warning, it is becoming a lived reality. Across high mountain regions, from Bolivia to Bhutan, the disappearance of glaciers is not only an environmental crisis but a cultural and spiritual rupture. For many Indigenous communities, these icy peaks are living deities, guardians of balance, and sources of ancestral knowledge. In Nepal, rituals must now adapt to the melting summits. In Bolivia, entire ways of life are dissolving alongside the snow. And in China, even scientists are banned from stepping onto sacred glaciers, seen as vital to the survival of the communities below. This #IndigenousPeoplesDay , discover how climate change is transforming traditions and what the world can learn from Indigenous wisdom that sees land, spirit, and culture as inseparable. Read the full story in The UNESCO Courier: "Traditions shaken by global war...

UNESCO launched a pioneering report to foster culturally sensitive technological development and information dissemination, ensure the data sovereignty of over 800 Indigenous Peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean, and prevent inappropriate cultural adoption within the accelerated development of artificial intelligence (AI). Inteligencia artificial centrada en los pueblos indígenas: perspectivas desde América Latina y el Caribe González Zepeda, Luz Elena UNESCO Office Montevideo and Regional Bureau for Science in Latin America and the Caribbean Martínez Pinto, Cristina Elena The report, " Indigenous People-Centered Artificial Intelligence: Perspectives from Latin America and the Caribbean ," was discussed for the first time at the Third Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination, recently held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It urges the participatory inclusion of local and indigenous communities, an appropriate data operation respecting their autonomy, proposes public policies...