The DRC adopts a law on the promotion and protection of the rights of Pygmy peoples

The Senate of the Democratic Republic of Congo took a big step today in recognizing the customary rights of its indigenous population by passing a new law on the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous Pygmy peoples.

This historic law is the very first legislation in the country to officially recognize and protect the rights of indigenous Pygmy peoples. It will now be sent to President Felix Tshisekedi for promulgation. This law will have a lasting effect on improving the tenure security and livelihoods of indigenous Pygmies, and enabling them to play a leading role in achieving the DRC’s climate and conservation goals.

Patrick Kipalu, Africa Program Director of the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), a global coalition of indigenous and community organizations that has advocated for the law, said: “The adoption of this organic law on fundamental principles of the protection and promotion of the rights of indigenous Pygmy peoples in the DRC is unprecedented and historic in a country where these groups have long suffered from deep discrimination resulting in political, economic, administrative and social marginalization. government to address years of historic injustice and discrimination against indigenous communities, and strengthen their contribution to the sustainable management of the vast Congolese rainforest.”

Recognized at national and international level as indigenous Pygmy peoples, the way of life, the cultural and spiritual identity of these communities are intrinsically linked to the forest massifs of the DRC, which represent 60% of the forests of the Congo Basin. These communities have developed traditional knowledge and practices that make them key players in the protection and preservation of the region’s rich biodiversity.

Yet, despite the important role they play in protecting these forests, the pygmies of the DRC have been victims of massive human rights violations, such as expulsion from their ancestral lands and exploitation in the form of forced labor under conditions equivalent to modern slavery (as well as cultural assimilation.

Patrick Saidi, Coordinator of the Dynamics of Indigenous Peoples Groups (DGPA) said: “This law is a victory that has just devoted more than 10 years of struggle and advocacy by civil society organizations at the parliamentary level. The Senators of the DRC has just lifted the exceptional option by accepting that the Pygmy concept be maintained in the law in order to make it more specific.

Today, June 10, 2022, will be inscribed in the annals and in the lives of the indigenous Pygmies.”

The DGPA, a member of the RRI coalition, has worked tirelessly for more than a decade alongside indigenous communities, national parliamentarians, senators, government officials and legislators to help define and ensure adoption of the law.

“This law is a weapon of combat and liberation for the indigenous Pygmy peoples in the DRC,” said Dorothée Lisenga, indigenous community leader and coordinator of the Coalition of Women Leaders for the Environment and Sustainable Development (CFLEDD).

The adoption of the new law on the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples is not the only change that the DRC government is making to recognize the rights, and in particular land rights, of its most vulnerable populations. . In March, the government also committed to integrating gender justice into its draft national land policy—with critical advocacy led by CFLEDD—thus putting women’s land rights at the center of land legislation that does not hasn’t been updated since 1973.

Members of the RRI coalition, DGPA and CFLEDD, have been at the forefront of the fight for rights in the DRC for years. Today, thanks to their support, the voices of indigenous peoples in the country are finally being heard.

“The RRI Coalition’s support of the decade-long struggle to develop and pass this law has been strategic and influential. We are now focused on the next steps: The signing of the law by the President of the Republic, the development of enforcement measures, and the effective implementation of the law on the ground,” said Patrick Kipalu.