Submitted by: Bulgaria School: Monticello Middle School
"Indigenous people make up 5% percent of the world's total population and 15% of the world's poor. To be considered an indigenous group by the United Nations the group must follow these criteria: historical pre-colonial and pre-settler societies; strong link to territories and local natural resources; a distinct language, culture and beliefs which differ from the majority, and resolve to maintain ancestral environments in their criterion."(5) "Modern international law contains certain basic guarantees for minority groups, in particular, rules prohibiting genocide, apartheid and racial discrimination."(2) "The Bulgarians established an empire in the Balkans in the ninth and tenth centuries, during which time they were converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The
Bulgarian state was overrun by the Turks at the end of the fourteenth century and remained a part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878, when it was recognized as an autonomous principality. In
1908 Bulgaria achieved full independence as a sovereign kingdom." (1) In Bulgaria there are no documents on indigenous peoples. So far there are no documents stating that they have any indigenous peoples. In the 2011 census, it states that there may be indigenous people called the
Romani. Since, they are no known documents on indigenous people, we have no laws protecting them.
Furthermore, in Bulgaria over the past couple of decades we have been stabilizing our minority groups. "For a period of time under the socialist regime in Bulgaria the Qur'an was translated into Bulgarian and made available only in Bulgarian, and periodicals of the Turkish minority were permitted only when published in Bulgarian." (6) The policy or assimilation has been resulted in not only the stabilization of ethnic groups and ethnic boundaries. Yet,
"Replacing Turkish and Roma names with Bulgarian names may have been the most wide-scaled action of openly brutal assimilation undertaken by the Bulgarian government." (6) "Bulgaria is a

society composed of several different ethnic groups. There are plenty of historical examples of severe conflict in Bulgaria, but there have also been periods of peace and cooperation, or at least of tolerance." (7)
Bulgaria proposes to set up a fund to help poor indigenous people. We also propose to set up a fund to help school these indigenous peoples. In September of 2007, Bulgaria voted in favor of
The Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples. "A series of programs has been conducted to develop the skills of key leaders in organizing and conducting consensus-building procedures and in sensitizing people to diversity issues. A key element in these programs has been the creation of a cadre of trainers and facilitators from different communities and ethnic backgrounds." (7)
Works Cited Page
1. http://www.refworld.org/docid/4954ce1523.html
2. http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/10.%20Ensuring%20Basic%20Human%20Rights/humanrights-and-indigenous-minorities-collective-guara
3. http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/231231/339702_en.html
4. http://www.nsi.bg/census2011/PDOCS2/Census2011final_en.pdf
5. UNHRC Background Guide
6. http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/bulgaria/ethnicidentities-making-case-bulgaria
7. http://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/promoting-multi-culturalconsensus-building-bulgaria

Submitted by: Costa Rica
The world's indigenous people have many reasons to be worried. First of all they are being kicked out of their original living spaces since countries are trying to build things for their own purpose, not thinking about others. Since they don't have much space to live finances are a problem, Heather Saunders from First Nations says that they will work on "the improvement of access to culturally appropriate financial services and products"(Un.org).
This topic of finances for indigenous people is very important because it's hard for them to get jobs. This causes their life expectancy to decrease according to the Sydney Morning
Herald there is a "11 year life expectancy gap" (rualpovertyportal.org) since these people are significantly poorer than the average person. In Latin America oil companies are taking over the indigenous peoples space and forcing them out of where they live in places such as
Columbia Ruge (N.D.).The reason finances affect their life span is, if they don't have enough money to buy food, medical care, shelter, or land. The UN Declaration Of Indigenous People says they are "welcoming the fact that indigenous peoples are organizing themselves for political economic social and cultural enhancement" (travelcostarica.nu).Therefore this statement proves that if a country signed this declaration, they are breaking their word or a truce they have made.
Here in Costa Rica, 1.7% of the population is indigenous. We do not have a very popular indigenous culture compared to the empires of Aztec or Myan tribes
(travelcostarica.nu).Even surrounding countries like Nicaragua have almost two times as many indigenous people. Most of the indigenous people live in mountainous areas of Costa
Rica because they went there to escape slavery from the Spaniards back in the day.

“Although there is, at both the international and domestic levels, a strong legal and policy foundation upon which to move forward with the implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights, there are still numerous obstacles preventing indigenous peoples from fully enjoying their human rights,”(reconciliation.org) Says Victoria Tauli-Corpus. UN leader Ban-Ki
Moon said that Costa Rica was a "model country" (un.org) since their rights towards most topics including indigenous people are fair. Costa Rica did in fact sign the UN declaration of indigenous people proving that they do probably try to help out the indigenous people.
As far as how we feel about indigenous people, we fully support that they should have freedom. This is because we have signed the UN Declaration of the Rights Of Indigenous
People, proving we think indigenous tribes should have all the same rights of regular people.
Although we don't have this problem as bad as many other countries, "6% of the national area of Costa Rica is made up of 24 cities (un.org).we still don't think it's right to treat other people differently for no reason. Countries around Costa Rica that struggle with containing all of their indigenous people are for example Ecuador and Peru. In conclusion, here in Costa
Rica we do not think it is okay to have indigenous people paid less, given less rights or given less living space than regular people. The UN should help all countries around the world fight against the difference of indigenous people from normal citizens. They should specifically make sure their living space doesn't get taken away, make sure they earn enough money and make sure they have medical support to extend their lifespan.

Resources
1.Masaquiza, Miriman. Indigenous peoples. Oisika Charkrabati, (N.D). 11-12-14, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf
2.IFAD.org, indigenous people and rual poverty. Katrina Agof, (N.D) 11-12-
14 /topic/home/tags/indigenous_peopleshttp://www.rualpovertyportal.org
3.Apdo, Jose. Indigenous people: the "Indians" of Costa Rica. Imagines tropicales,
November 14th 2006. 11-12-14, http://www.travrica.indigenous-costa-rica
4.Hutchens, Gareth. GP Co-payments hit indigenous people hard. Jonathan swan, may 18th
2014, 11-12-14, http://www.smh.com.au/national/gp-copayment-to-hit-indigenouspopulation-hard-20140517-38gwa.html
5. The UN committee. The UN Declaration of Indigenous People. http://www.iwgia.org/regions/latin-america/costa-rica

Submitted By: Ghana School: Monticello Middle School
Indigenous people make up 5% of the world’s population yet they total around 15% of the world’s poor. “Indigenous people are those that have historically belonged to a particular region or country, before its colonization or transformation into a nation state, and may have different – often unique – cultural, linguistic, traditional, and other characteristics to those of the dominant cultural of that region or state” (Globe Issues 2010). Historically they have often been dispossessed of their lands, or in the center of conflict for access to valuable resources because of where they live, or, in yet other cases, struggling to live the way they would like. Indeed, indigenous people are often amongst the most disadvantaged people in the world. According to the 2007 Human Development Report from Ghana, the
Ghanaian society comprises of five ethnic groups The Akan, the Ewe mole Dagbani, the Guan, and the
Ga-Adangbe. Some of the problems they experience include, a lack of resources, access to education and are often treated second-class citizens.
“Indigenous people around the world have sought recognition of the identities, their ways of life and their rights to traditional lands, territories and natural resources; yet throughout history, their rights have been violated.” (UNPF11). June 29, 2006 the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted the
U.N. draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Although it would not be legally binding, the indigenous community felt the “adoption of the declaration will help in their efforts against discrimination, racism, oppression, marginalization and exploitation” (2010).
Our world is experiencing a rapid decline in cultural diversity and the eradication of indigenous peoples and their lifeway. It is our belief that cross-cultural communication, cooperation, and understanding - as well as easily accessible information and resources - is one of the keys to helping indigenous peoples maintain their language , culture, and identity. We hope that you also share this belief.
Diversity is one of the strongest components to a healthy world. Together we can help and make a difference - from large to small.

Work Cited
"Rights of Indigenous People." - Global Issues . N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.
Indigenous People Have Many rights Denied
"Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Ghana : Konkomba." Refworld . N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.
N.p., n.d. Web.

Submitted by: India
The truth is, Human Rights have been violated worldwide in developing nations, such as
India and Saudi Arabia; and world powers, including the United States and United Kingdom.
Indigenous people of all nations are treated as chattel, or worse. People all over the globe are dissatisfied with their rights, and they deserve better. Among these many Human Rights violations, racial discrimination, inequality based off stereotypes , and unfairly evicted indigenous people are scattered in most countries, which leaves us, the UN, in a deep, deep plight. How can we fix this?
How can we make the world a better place? This is a complicated mess the world has accumulated over the past decades. We, the delegates of India, address the United Nations with some of our problems, and our ideas of resurrecting the rights all people acquire as human beings, in hopes of achieving the impossible, in hopes of enforcing freedom for all people.
Before we begin, let it be known that all humans, of all races and religions, of all appearances and personalities, are people. However, indigenous people appearing like natives from their country are being prejudice towards fellow indigenous people whom have foreign physical features. Many of these incidents are targeted towards North-East Indians. 19-year-old scholar Nido Tania was beaten and killed by shopkeepers who had mocked his East-Asian physical features. Protests quickly erupted in New Delhi by immigrants who have earned the title of “indigenous,” declaring, “Why are we treated as outsiders? We are Indians too.” This unfortunate incident demonstrates the amount of racism people hold against others, which must be stopped now. The good news is that Indian officials such as Arvind Kejriwal vow to “raise the matter in parliament.” However, Tania’s incident is not the only. Homosexuals face complications in India. On December 11th, 2013, after its decriminalization, homosexuality was recriminalized due to protests in Mumbai. Violators of this law would suffer ten years in prison. Is this not discrimination? Are homosexuals not people? Anjali
Gopalan reports, “I feel so exhausted right now thinking… [indigenous homosexuals] are being set back 100 years.” This is a tragedy that must be fixed. As to fixing it, we shall state our propositions later. Lastly, the Indian government has been evicting tens of thousands of women, children, and men from their homes. On April 5th, 2008, the Andhra Pradesh forest department forcefully evicted people who were living in the Andhra Pradesh. These people moved here to escape the conflict in
Chhattisgarh, and now the Andhra Pradesh forest department is burning down their homes to so they would leave. In Kolkata, the government is evicting more than 15,000 farmers from their agricultural land in order to turn it into industrial land.
Now, people of the United Nations, we would like to state our propositions to these matters stated.
But first, let it be known that these problems are not distinctly present in India, for they appear all around the world. Homosexuals are forbidden to marriage in many states in the U.S. In China, the government has been evicting thousands of people, particularly in rural regions, with little to no compensation. The people of the U.K. have admitted to racial discrimination and fears of immigration growth ever since the 9/11 attacks. These are problems that are inexcusable, so we, the delegates of India, have provided you with some propositions resolving these issues. Firstly, tolerance must be taught in schools all over the globe, to prevent racial and sexual discrimination.
This way, people learn to accept everyone at a very young age, which makes them more embracing

of the law imposed; of course, that law being “everyone is equal.” People must also be taught not to be stereotypical about immigrants. The people of the world need unity, and perhaps the only way unity may be is if laws against racial discrimination are stricter. After all, are we not all people?
Secondly, it is essential that the government should create a policy fixing the problem of displaced people evicted from their land. Perhaps, if these people must absolutely leave their home, the government should provide them with a new home to start a new life. Nevertheless, it would be better if people were not evicted in the first place. Thank you.

Submitted by: Pakistan
There is an estimated 370 million indigenous people spread across 70 countries around the world. In some parts of the world, there are thousands, maybe even millions of indigenous people, but in other parts of the world, their numbers may vary to very few. Sadly, some indigenous people's land and cultures have been taken over by non native societies. Indigenous people still struggle for their rights to this day, governments around the world still do not give good rights for indigenous people. Some people think that indigenous people lack capacity of the
'regular' government system and 'normal' way of life. However, that is not true. They are very knowledgeable about their economic system and even though some people, and even governments won't give them proper rights, they are still continuing to build the worlds first global human rights movements. The deceleration on the rights of indigenous peoples was adopted on September 13, in 2007. A majority of 144 votes in favor, and only Eleven countries recognize that indigenous people actually have rights. An example of indigenous rights being violated is in Mexico. "Indigenous Peoples in Mexico were given the opportunity to review and approve the accords, and most approved. The Mexican federal government was expected to continue negotiating with the EZLN and address problems of poverty, develop strategies of economic development and indigenous women
’ s rights. However, the Mexican government stopped negotiating and introduced Army troops into Chiapas and declined to honor the provisions of the accords." Quoted from indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com.
Some people aren't quite sure about indigenous peoples treatment of the environment, like blaming them for the deforestation of Easter Island or large animals disappearing. When in reality, indigenous people have gained knowledge over the years on how to care and work with nature, not destroying it. In many parts of the world, indigenous peoples' rights have been

violated. For example, in Bolivia the president Evo Morales didn't keep his promise about indigenous rights. "Political and civil rights, such as freedom of expression and association, were encountered by severe assaults on the part of police forces. Fundamental due process rights are repeatedly violated, specifically in relation to Morales
’ political opponents." Quoted from fairobserver.com. This took some people by surprise considering that 62 percent of the population belongs to ethnic groups.
Based on the information in this paper and the way indigenous people have been treated in the past, and even to this day, needs to be improved. Pakistan would like the UN to help improve the rights of indigenous people in other countries that don't agree with the idea of giving indigenous people decent rights. For example, other countries should impose sanctions on
Bolivia so that Bolivia can
’ t receive any goods from other countries until Bolivia gives rights to indigenous people. In conclusion, countries still fail to realize that these unique people deserve rights, which they do. We all hope that someday these countries will open their eyes and find out that what they're doing is wrong.

Bibliography
Sources: "who are indigenous peoples." Who are indigenous peoples. Web. 16 Dec. 2014
<http://www.firstpeoples.org/who-are-indigenous-peoples>
"Cultural Survival." Cultural Survival. Web 16 Dec 2014 <http://www.culturalsurvival.org>
"Welcome to the United Nations: it's your world." UN news center. UN. Web.16 Dec 2014.
<http://www.un.org
"Instituto Franc
é s De Estudios Andinos." IFEA. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. <http://www.ifeanet.org>.
"Global Issues." : Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All -.
Web. 17 Dec. 2014. <http://www.globalissues.org>.
"Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability News, Press Releases, Feeds, Events and
More." RSS. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. <http://www.csrwire.com>.
CNN. Cable News Network. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com>.
UNHRC Topic A