The World Bank supports the efforts of client countries to better address poverty and social exclusion among Indigenous Peoples. Since 1992, the World Bank has financed approximately 700 projects involving Indigenous Peoples. The current portfolio contains 446 projects under supervision, with another 100 projects in the pipeline. Within the broader framework of the operational policy (OP 4.10), the World Bank is assisting Indigenous Peoples in the following programs: projects in the Bank’s six regions, the Global Environmental Facility, the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, partnerships with other agencies, and building a knowledge base on Indigenous Peoples issues.
The World Bank is finalizing an assessment of poverty among Indigenous Peoples worldwide. The study confirms that Indigenous Peoples make up a disproportionate number of the worlds’ poor. An earlier regional study for Latin America (2006) confirmed the higher incidence of poverty among Indigenous Peoples across the region but, more importantly, found that Indigenous Peoples experience fewer benefits from economic growth and poverty reduction than the rest of the population.
Indigenous Peoples are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, given that they often live in environmentally sensitive areas.
Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change
As the World Bank expands its efforts to address climate change, it notes that Indigenous Peoples are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, given that they often live in environmentally sensitive areas (e.g., the arctic region, tropical forests, coastal zones, mountains, deserts, etc.), and often depend primarily on their surrounding biodiversity for subsistence as well as cultural survival. At the same time, Indigenous Peoples hold traditional knowledge that may be critical to climate change adaptation.
The Bank will build on Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge when assisting countries in developing strategies to adapt to changing environmental patterns and conditions. It will work to address the specific needs of Indigenous Peoples communities in dealing with climate change.
A Proactive Approach
Lessons from World Bank projects involving Indigenous Peoples directly confirms that economic development without respecting the Indigenous Peoples norms, cultures, and traditions cannot be sustainable. Poverty reduction efforts, therefore, must address the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of development as well as the economic ones.
The World Bank has made an important strategic shift in which it emphasizes a proactive approach in its work with Indigenous Peoples. It has adopted a strategic approach of “doing good” from that of earlier "doing no harm" approach. The Bank’s commitment to Indigenous Peoples is further reinforced by its approach of positioning vulnerable and excluded groups at the center of development agenda. Proactive measures include:
strengthening and improving the policy and institutional frameworks affecting Indigenous Peoples and their relations with other sectors of national society
building Indigenous Peoples' capacity for self-development, based upon their cultural heritage and knowledge
demonstrating the important role that Indigenous Peoples can play in the management of fragile ecosystems and biodiversity conservation
disseminating the experience learned from such indigenous development initiatives to national governments and the international donor community
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