Policy on Promoting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

This Policy on Promoting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (PRO-IP) positions USAID to strengthen and expand upon the decades of support we have committed to Indigenous Peoples around the world. The Policy offers guidance for robust engagement and partnership with Indigenous Peoples to help USAID’s programs align with these communities’ own priorities, while also ensuring that our staff and implementing partners safeguard against unintended adverse impact. Not all of USAID’s Operating Units (OUs) will have the same level of engagement with Indigenous Peoples, but those whose projects have the potential for significant impact on Indigenous Peoples must adhere to this Policy. Operating Units that do not have extensive activities that affect Indigenous Peoples should use their best efforts to allocate time and resources effectively to include Indigenous Peoples in development processes and mitigate the risk of adverse impacts.

Working with Indigenous Peoples is an important component of USAID’s goal to support human dignity and the innate desire of communities to shape their own bright future as they progress along the Journey to Self-Reliance. Indigenous Peoples are stewards of a wide range of critical ecosystems, and of much of the earth’s biological diversity. Their livelihoods and traditional resource-management strategies are among the most sustainable. Their systems of traditional knowledge can make significant contributions to their own countries, as well as to broader global health, agriculture, and food security. Traditional knowledge is also valuable for finding effective strategies for responding to the challenges of global climate-adaptation.