From protecting forests and waterways to preserving languages, traditions, and systems of governance, Indigenous Peoples have been shaping societies and building communities for as long as history can remember.” Observed every year on 9 August, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is a timely moment to recognize these contributions and renew a broader commitment to recognizing, respecting, and empowering Indigenous Peoples as full partners in nation-building.

Globally, Indigenous Peoples make up less than 6 percent of the world’s population, yet account for at least 15 percent of the world’s poorest people. This imbalance reflects a long history of exclusion, discrimination, and dispossession, with many Indigenous communities continuing to face barriers to education, healthcare, decent work, sustainable livelihoods, and meaningful participation in public life.

At the same time, Indigenous Peoples safeguard cultural and linguistic diversity and remain important stewards of the natural resources that our societies depend on. Safeguarding nature has become more important than ever, and more challenging, as climate change accelerates and pressure grows on ancestral domains and natural resources. Indigenous Peoples have contributed least to the climate crisis, but many are among those most exposed to its consequences. 

The Philippines is home to approximately 110 Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples, each with distinct languages, traditions, governance systems, and relationships with their ancestral domains. Long before the establishment of the modern Philippine state, these communities had developed ways of governing territories, managing natural resources, resolving conflicts, and sustaining livelihoods. Their knowledge and institutions remain deeply relevant to the country’s development today.

The Philippines has taken important steps to recognize the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples. The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 affirms their rights to ancestral domains, cultural integrity, self-governance, social justice, and full participation in services and decisions that affect their communities. It also created the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to protect and promote their rights and well-being.

Recognition in law is essential, and it gains its fullest meaning when reflected in empowerment in everyday life. Empowerment helps Indigenous communities expand livelihood opportunities, improve access to services, and contribute to decisions that shape their lands and communities. Indigenous women and girls often face additional barriers, while also serving as leaders, knowledge holders, caregivers, entrepreneurs, and agents of change within their families and communities.

This is why recognition goes hand in hand with investment, empowerment, and participation.

It is in this spirit that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, New Zealand, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are working together through the Indigenous Women and Girls–Leadership and Empowerment in Ancestral Domains (I-LEAD) project. With New Zealand’s financial contribution of nearly US$4.6 million, I-LEAD is New Zealand’s largest project in the Philippines and a flagship partnership supporting Indigenous women and girls in Mindanao. The partnership reflects a shared understanding that sustainable development is inclusive, rights-based, and shaped by the people and communities whose lives and futures it affects.

I-LEAD will work in four Indigenous communities in Regions 11 and 12 in Mindanao, strengthening the leadership and economic capacity of at least 1,600 Indigenous women and girls by 2030 and supporting wider benefits in their ancestral domains. The project focuses on three areas: inclusive ancestral domain governance; culturally grounded, sustainable, market-linked livelihoods; and stronger institutional capacity to deliver culturally appropriate, rights-based services aligned with community priorities.

A distinctive feature of I-LEAD is the Indigenous-to-Indigenous exchange it seeks to foster between Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines and Māori communities in New Zealand. This can create space for practical learning on leadership, enterprise development, cultural revitalization, and stewardship of ancestral lands and resources. For UNDP, it reflects a broader commitment to work alongside Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities across Asia and the Pacific to support self-determined development, local governance, sustainable livelihoods, and ecosystem protection.

The Māori experience in New Zealand offers one example of how Indigenous leadership, institutions, and economic participation can drive progress. Between 2018 and 2023, the Māori economic contribution to New Zealand grew from $17 billion to $32 billion, while the Māori asset base grew from $69 billion to $126 billion. 

Every Indigenous community has its own history, identity, and aspirations. But it does show that recognition and empowerment are not only matters of justice. They are also foundations for stronger social cohesion, more resilient institutions, and more inclusive economic growth.

Across the Philippines, Indigenous communities show that ancestral knowledge and modern development are not opposing forces, but complementary. Traditional ecological knowledge supports the care of lands, ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources. Customary governance can strengthen participation and accountability. Indigenous entrepreneurship can support sustainable livelihoods, broaden economic participation, and protect cultural identity. Indigenous women and girls are central to these efforts, helping sustain families, lead communities, and shape local economies. Together, these contributions form a practical development agenda: one that strengthens local governance, improves access to services, and helps ensure that decisions reflect the knowledge and priorities of the communities most directly concerned.

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is therefore not only a day of commemoration. It is a reminder that sustainable development is strongest when Indigenous Peoples are fully included and recognized as leaders, partners, innovators, and custodians of knowledge.

The Philippines is strongest when every community contributes its knowledge, leadership, and aspirations to the national story. By recognizing and empowering Indigenous Peoples—especially women and girls—we help build a future that is more just, more inclusive, more prosperous, and more resilient for generations to come.

Christophe Bahuet is the UNDP Resident Representative in the Philippines.