July 2024 Newsletter
The Christensen Fund Attends the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
This April, The Christensen Fund’s entire board and staff came together with our partners to participate in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Our Board made the decision to gather everyone together with our partners during this year’s Permanent Forum to manifest our deeply held commitments and values to stand in solidarity with our partners in our shared work. We were also fortunate to harness this unique opportunity to listen, learn, and deepen our connectivity to the organizations and communities we serve.
Program Related Investment: Raven Indigenous Outcomes Fund
As part of The Christensen Fund’s pledge to provide catalytic capital for projects that can have a transformative impact for Indigenous communities, we have committed $2 million over a seven year term to support the Raven Indigenous Outcomes Fund (RIOF.) The RIOF is founded by and for Indigenous communities. It is a groundbreaking Indigenous-led fund of $50M CAD ($37.5M USD) dedicated to Indigenous outcomes-based financing deals, otherwise known as “pay for performance” projects.
2023 Annual Report
We are excited to share our 2023 annual report. As always, our values are rooted in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). To support the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples, we prioritize Indigenous-led organizations, including Indigenous-led funds. We invite you to dive into our 2023 year in review here.
Indigenous Leaders Cohort
We are honored to introduce and welcome our 2024-2025 Indigenous Leaders Program Participants. The program celebrates four Indigenous leaders from Mexico, Cameroon, Indonesia, and the United States who are advancing the inherent rights, dignity, and self-determination of their communities, Nations, and Peoples while working to achieve the promise of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
The Leaders Program was developed collaboratively with these Indigenous leaders in order to respect their prior commitments and demands on their time. In the spirit of self determination, these leaders will focus on issues or projects that they determine themselves. The program also holds space for these leaders to collaborate, learn from each other, and share reflections on the issues most important to them while enjoying the full support of each of their knowledge and experiences.
Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil (Mexico)
Yasnaya is an Ayuuk Indigenous writer, linguist, translator, researcher, and activist. Her work focuses on the promotion and study of the linguistic diversity and the endangered Indigenous languages in México. She is part of the COLMIX Collective, devoted to the research and promotion of the Indigenous Mixe Culture.
Basiru Isu (Cameroon)
Mr. Basiru is an energetic leader from Cameroon. He is currently the Secretary General of the Network of Indigenous and Local Communities for the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa (REPALEAC), which coordinates the work of Indigenous Peoples across 8 countries in the Congo Basin.
Rukka Sombolinggi (Indonesia)
Rukka Sombolinggi is in her second term as secretary-general of the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN). She was born and raised in Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and belongs to the Indigenous Toraja, who inhabit the highlands of South Sulawesi.
Kyle Whyte (United States)
Kyle Whyte is a faculty member teaching environmental justice at the University of Michigan, where he is George Willis Pack Professor, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, and Professor of Philosophy and Native American Studies. His research focuses on Indigenous climate policy, planning, and justice, and the ethics of cooperative relationships between Indigenous Peoples and science organizations.
Recent Partner News
IllumiNative expands its leadership team and launches Media Company – Announcement
Tocabe has started a new YouTube series to highlight Native food producers and their communities. Watch the first episode here
IMDEC launched its Learning Communities for an Emancipatory Practice training space 2024 – Info
Ujamaa Community Resource Team (UCRT) named a winner of the 2024 Ashden Award for their work in Natural Climate Solutions – Announcement
Tenure Facility announces partnership with Turning Tides – From the Forest to the Sea: Uniting for Tenure Rights
The 23rd United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Twenty-Third Session: April 15-26, 2024
This April, The Christensen Fund’s entire board and staff came together with our partners to participate in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Our Board made the decision to gather everyone together with our partners during this year’s Permanent Forum to manifest our deeply-held commitments and values to stand in solidarity with our partners in our shared work. We were also fortunate to harness this unique opportunity to listen, learn, and deepen our connectivity to the organizations and communities we serve.
UNPFII 2024
Established in 2000 by the United Nations following longtime advocacy by Indigenous Peoples, the Permanent Forum carries out its mandate to address Indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health, and human rights. The Permanent Forum is one of the three UN bodies specific to Indigenous Peoples (others are the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.) The work of the Permanent Forum is guided by a thematic focus, which in 2024 is “Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination in the context of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: emphasizing the voices of Indigenous youth.”
The Christensen Fund Board of Trustees at UNPFII
Through this thematic lens, in the days leading up to the Forum itself, we were honored to convene a series of discussions on our partners' important work and expertise on several critical topics, including: Upholding Indigenous Rights: Navigating the United Nations Framework (with International Indian Treaty Council, Permanent Forum members, and COLMIX Collective); Financing a Future Just Transition: Sustainable Development and Advancing Indigenous Rights in the Green Economy (with AMAN and REPALEAC); and Implementing UNDRIP Worldwide - (with our cohorts of Indigenous Leaders).
The Christensen Fund Partners at UNPFII
The Permanent Forum is an intense two week programme of work for our partners, and we are grateful to have also hosted a joyful celebration to welcome our partners who traveled from far and wide to New York, including:
Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact Foundation, AWE TIBUAME A. C., Charapa, Coalition of Large Tribes, Four Directions, Consultoría Técnica Comunitaria, Cultural Survival, Inc., Federación Indígena Empresarial y Comunidades Locales de México. A.C., First Peoples Worldwide, Forest Peoples Programme, Foro para el Desarrollo Sustentable AC, Grist, If Not Us Then Who, International Funders for Indigenous Peoples, International Indian Treaty Council, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, Land Is Life, Native American Rights Fund, National Congress of American Indians, Native Hawaiian Philanthropy, Pastoral Women's Council, re:wild, The Pawanka Fund, The Tenure Facility, Traditional Ecosystems Survival Tanzania, Ujamaa Community Resource Team, Wataniba, and so many more! We were also honored to co-host the Permanent Forum’s annual cultural celebration with longtime partner Land is Life.
The Christensen Fund's UNPFII Floor Statement
The Christensen Fund, in solidarity with our partners and Indigenous Peoples worldwide, also presented a statement on the floor of the
United Nations during the Permanent Forum to amplify the the concerns of Indigenous Peoples as to donor activities, and the need for donors to respect Indigenous Peoples' rights as a nonnegotiable minimum standard in all pressing matters that affect them.
A video of the statement can be viewed here.
We are, once again and as always, awed and humbled by the incredible work of our amazing partners. We are filled with gratitude for the opportunity to share space alongside them at the world’s largest annual gathering of Indigenous Peoples.
Additional News From The Christensen Fund Partners and Leaders:
-The Christensen Fund Publishes its Annual Report - The Christensen Fund's 2023 Annual Report: Supporting Indigenous Rights
-Fawn Sharp Appointed to the Nature Conservancy’s Global Board of Directors
-Oweesta Awarded $156,120,000 through the federal "Solar For All" Program to help continue to bring sustainable energy to Indian Country
-Indigenous Peoples Rights International's Indigenous Peoples and the Just Transition conference in NY was a huge success. Read more about it here.
-The Christensen Fund Makes an Investment in TAHITO
-The Christensen Fund participated in the Human Rights Funders Network (HRFN) annual convening Funding Futures Festival at Tbilisi, Georgia, April 23-26, where we networked, shared ideas and participated along with our partners FIMI, Fondo Defensores, EDC, and Cultural Survival
