INTRODUCTION

Increasingly many indigenous women are leading the movements to defend their communities and are fighting to protect their people. The success of this social movement, and the interest in the subject of human rights at the international level was clearly expressed in the world conferences held recently: The second International Indigeneous Women's Conference, Karasjohka (Norway) 1990; the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna (Austria) 1993; the Social Summit, Copenhagen (Denmark) 1995; the fourth Women's World Conference, Beijing (China) 1995; The First International Indigenous Women's Conference, Adelaide (Australia) 1988.

When the thirtheen United Nation's working group on the indigenous population was held in Geneva in 1995, only three of the thirty African delegates present were women. The absence of the African indigenous women in these international meetings shows that they lack the apportunities to express their points of view and their interests at the international level.

The indegineous people in the entire continent find themselves in a situation of marginalisation and isolation. Although this situation is present in any indigenous organization in Africa, the indigenous women meet other obstacles related to their status of woman in the dominant community as well as in the traditional community. The goal of the first African Indigenous Women's Conference is to put an end to this isolation.

The indigenous women of Africa and their organizations should be able to better develop and formulate their claims and their points of view collectively. Thanks to these collective actions and the international co-operation, it was possible to achieve results during the former international conferences.

The first African Indigenous Women's Conference will offer the opportunity to exchange ideas and mutual experiences concerning the strategies towards the problems that they encounter, and to create a network of the indigenous women in Africa.

TOPICS OF THE CONFERENCE

• The role of the indigenous woman in the protection of the cultural and intellectual property of her people.
• The violence against the indigenous women from the dominant society and within their communities.

1. The indigenous women and culture

In the indigenous communities, it is especially the women who keep and promote the culture of their people, eventhough they often live in a desintegrating society. The transmission of the language, the history and the oral culture, the music, the dance, the habits, the artisanal knowledge and the knowledge of the natural environment, medicinal herbs and hygiene show the importance of their task as teachers. As the women save and keep the culture of their people, it is possible, in a later phase, to nourish a liberating movement by giving it a positive identity of the indigenous people.

2. The violence against the indigenous women

In a situation where a community suffers from marginalisation and violence from a national government, the majority of the victims are women. Violence against the women is used as a tactic to drive out the indigenous populations from their territories. By killing or by mutilating indigenous women, the governments seek in fact to take revenge from the indigenous men, because the women are often regarded as their property.

Even within the indigenous community, violence against the women increases. The erosion of the traditional values and the social problems due to unemployment, alcoholism, prostitution, ... are causes of family violence. The increasing influence of the dominant society reinforces the existing patriarchal tendencies in the indigenous community and blurs the traditional matriarchal structures.

A third form of violence against the indigenous women is intrinsic to the indigenous culture. These traditions are often directed towards the control of the sexual and economical activities of women. This leads to the restriction of freedom of women by means of violences such as genital mutilation.

In spite of the crucial role these indigenous women play as teachers of the future generations - a task they often achieve in extremely difficult circumstances - women have often limited freedom to decide on their own life and their own body.

THE FIRST AFRICAN INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S CONFERENCE

The first African Indigenous Women's Conference is held from April 20 to 24, 1998 in Agadir, Morocco. The Tamaynut association welcomes the participants and organizes meetings with local indigenous women and their associations.

The Nederlands Centre for Indigenous People (Nederlands Centrum voor Inheemse Volken, Amsterdam), an organization in support of indigenous people, will be given the responsability to facilitate the establishment of a network of indigenous women in Africa.

Ms Tassadit Yacine (Awal) will chair the full sessions. The results of this conference will be presented in a report which will then be sent to the indigenous organizations in Africa, to the networks of the indigenous women and to the organizations of lawyers of the indigenous people.

Within the framework of the campain which led to the recognition of the international movement of the indigenous people, the indigenous women of Africa organize themselves by creating their own network in order to deal with their concerns and their hopes.

The fourth Women's World Conference (September 4-15, 1995, Beijing, China) and the International Decade of the Indigenous People (1995 - 2004) offer to the African indigenous women an excellent occasion to reinforce the awakening of their situation.

COORDINATORS

• Morocco

  Amina Ben Sheik, fax: (212) 7.73.01.39

  Fatima Mourd, Tel: (212) 7.47.43.36

  Wafa Choukri, Tel: (212) 7.75.93.36

• Netherlands

  Angeline Van Achterberg, fax: (31) 20.665.28.18