16 May 2011

UN / INDIGENOUS OPENER WRAP

Opening the 10th Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that indigenous cultures are “threatened with extinction” adding that “one indigenous language dies every two weeks.” UNTV

Posted at: May 16, 2011 4:03 pm

Duration: 03:23

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: UN / INDIGENOUS OPENER WRAP 
TRT: 3:23
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 16 MAY 2011, UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT

SHOTLIST:

RECENT - UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN headquarters

16 MAY 2011, UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, General Assembly hall
3. Med shot, Ole Johan Eira performing the ceremonial Joik
4. Cutaway, audience
5. Med shot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arriving
6. Cutaway, audience
7. Med shot, Mirna Cunningham receiving the baton
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
"There is an indigenous saying that, 'when an elder dies, it is like a light burning out.' This is a beautiful expression of respect for the wisdom of age. But it could also be a warning. We could just as easily say that, 'when an indigenous custom dies, it is like a light burning out.' If that is true, our world is growing darker. Today, one indigenous language dies every two weeks. Indigenous cultures are threatened with extinction."
9. Wide shot, audience clapping
10. Wide shot, speakers at podium
11. Cutaway, journalists
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Edward John, Grand Chief, First Nations, Canada:
"When animals are endangered or plants are endangered or trees are endangered, there's a lot to do about it. There's a lot of effort given by governments, by the United Nations to address threatened species, endangered species or species that become extinct. Yet when indigenous languages die one every two weeks, who says anything? What is being said about that? I don't know whether to cry hard or to be mad about it. I think I'm both."
13. Cutaway, journalists
14. SOUNBITE (English) Mirna Cunningham, Chairperson, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues:
"We are also very worried about the concept pf green economy. We consider as Indigenous people that this is something that may be using a different concept but it does not include the different dimensions of development that indigenous people manage, we consider that things will continue. The environment will continue being destroyed and the whole human kind is in risk."
15. Cutaway, journalists
16. Wide shot, end of press conference

STORYLINE:

Opening the 10th Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that indigenous cultures are "threatened with extinction" adding that "one indigenous language dies every two weeks."

The annual UN forum aimed at advancing the rights of the estimated 370 million indigenous persons around the world opened today (16 May) with a call to turn those rights into a practical reality.

Addressing the press after the opening, Grand Chief Edward John of First Nations in Canada said "there's a lot of effort given by governments, by the United Nations to address threatened species."

In comparison, he questioned what has been done about the threats Indigenous languages continue to face.

According to UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), approximately 600 languages have disappeared in the last century and they continue to disappear.

Newly appointed Forum chairperson Mirna Cunningham expressed concerns about the concept of green economy saying that it needs to include "the different dimensions of development" concerning indigenous peoples. 
 
If not, she added, "the environment will continue being destroyed and the whole human kind is in risk."

More than 1,300 delegates are expected to participate in the two-week Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is being held at UN Headquarters in New York.
 
This year the forum will focus on reviewing progress made on issues ranging from economic and social development to the environment and whether indigenous peoples have given free, prior and informed consent to decisions affecting their communities.