Manipur youth highlights ethnic conflict at UN Indigenous Youth Forum in Rome

At the invitation of the Indigenous People Unit of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Dennis Lallienzuol Hmar attended the 2nd Biennial United Nations Global Indigenous Youth Forum (UNGIYF) held in Rome, Italy from 16-20 October 2023.

The UN Global Indigenous Youth Forum is the only Indigenous-related high-level forum hosted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

This UN Forum results from a 2017 recommendation from UNDESA to FAO through the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), which built upon FAO’s work with the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus (GIYC) in 2017 and the Rome Declaration on Indigenous Youth.

At the Forum, Dennis Lallienzuol represented the Kuki-Zo people and raised a range of issues his community faced with regard to tribal issues, land rights and control, agri-food systems and indigenous knowledge systems. He also highlighted the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, India on the sidelines and the complexities tribals in his region face.

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Further, Dennis advocated an array of issues Asia is facing and highlighted his work on indigenous youths and people of his region with Rural Women Upliftment Society and Highland Impact Foundation.

He intervened in the #UNGIYF2023 circle session on 'My Food Vision Is...Keeping the Lifeline of Nutrition Alive’ with Dario Mejía Montalvo, Chair of United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Jessica Vega Ortega, UNGIYF Coordinator, Advisor of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, Latin America & the Caribbean; Mikaila K. Way, Indigenous Youth Focal Point of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) along with experts in food/ nutrition and Indigenous Youth Leaders.

As a part of the Asia Delegation, he actively negotiated regional priorities and lobbied with the seven socio-cultural regions of the world. As an outcome, the Rome Declaration on Safeguarding Seven Generations, and the Rome Declaration on Policy Recommendations to the United Nations Organs, Agencies, Funds, and Organisations, Member States, and Non-Government Organisations were formalised and read out on the last day of the Forum.

Organised by the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, the World Reindeer Herder’s Association, and the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit, the Forum provided a space of dialogue between Indigenous Youth and Countries, UN Agencies, Universities, Research centres, and other stakeholders to issue policy recommendations affecting the future of Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems in the context of climate and biodiversity action. In parallel with the UN Global Indigenous Youth Forum, FAO will host the World Food Forum, Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum as well as the Science and Innovation Forum.

Dennis Lallienzuol is also a Youth Engagement and Empowerment Programme Fellow of the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism who was invited earlier on June, 2023 to speak at the Third United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week, 2023 side event hosted by United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism on how climate security & conflict multi-dimensionally impacts young people sharing his testimony of survival as an internally displaced youth and his experiences at the margins of conflict.