By Prensa Latina,
United Nations : Bolivian President Evo Morales, ministers from that country, Ecuador, Nepal, and some 30 parliamentarians are attending Monday the opening ceremony of the Seventh Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
The meeting, to be run until May 2, is the first one since the creation in September of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which had been negotiated for 20 years.
The main issue this time is the impact of the climate change in native peoples.
Figures like Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Leo Morores, president of the Economic and Social Council, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, assistance of the General Secretary, as well as 3,000 delegates from indigenous communities worldwide attends the event.
Among activities is a news conference by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, president of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and Myrna Cunningham, director of the Center for Autonomous Native Peoples and Development of Nicaragua, as well as a cultural exhibition, sponsored by the International Labor Organization.
The agenda includes topics like climate change, bio-cultural diversity, means of survival, managing role of indigenous peoples and new challenges, and the situation of the Guarani people in Bolivia.
The Bolivian president is expected to give a news conference today on the situation in his country.