Regional Sensitization Seminar on the Rights of Indigenous Populations/Communities in North Africa

Natural Justice's Lesle Jansen is currently attending a two-day consultation and dialogue organised in Tunisia by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP), with its civil societies in the North African region, around the issue of indigenous peoples.  

The seminar is aimed at gathering information on the situation of indigenous communities in the sub-region, and sensitising them around the legal and institutional frameworks in place – both at the international and regional levels - for the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights.

The seminar objectives are to:

• Sensitise stakeholders in North Africa about the Working Group’s approach to the issue of the rights of indigenous populations;
• Analyze the main problems faced by indigenous populations in North Africa; and reflect towards their resolution; and
• Identify the principal tenets of a strategy for better collaboration between the Working Group, civil society, and indigenous communities in North Africa.

Learning about intellectual property, community protocols and ABS

A training for indigenous peoples and local communities in Africa on intellectual property, biocultural community protocols (BCPs) and access and benefit sharing (ABS) is taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from the 23rd to the 27th of September. The meeting is organized by the ABS Initiative, in collaboration with Natural Justice, the Indigenous Information Network, the Indigenous Peoples Coordination Committee of Africa and hosted by the African Union Commission.

Intellectual property protections, such as patents, are often placed over developments that have originated from the knowledge held by indigenous and local communities. Unfortunately, these communities rarely provide their consent for such actions nor are able to share in any benefits that emerge from the developments.

Therefore, African indigenous people and local community representatives have requested training on the intellectual property regime, its linkages with access and benefit sharing and tools, such as community protocols, that can be used to protect their knowledge.

During the week long training, participants will share information on patents, geographical indications, plant variety protections, trade marks, the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing and community protocols.

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