News Archives » evo morales

World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth April 20th, 2010

This week, Bolivian President Evo Morales is convening the People’s World Conference on Climate Change, an alternative to the unwieldy and U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change that fell so far short of expectations last December. NGOs, scientists, activists, indigenous leaders, and representatives of 60 to 70 national governments are coming together for this alternative conference – in all, about 7,500 attendees from 110 countries.

Daniel LeBlanc, OMI – Oblate representative to the UN – is attending the conference and sent this update yesterday:

Cochabamba, Bolivia, 19 April 2010

The Conference officially begins Tuesday morning with President Evo Morales doing the honors.

However, today there were already several events and huge crowds. Fr. Gregorio Iriarte OMI was to give a talk at 4:30, along with 3 other panelists, and so I accompanied him to the stadium where credentials were given to those who had registered through the internet, as well as to those who had neglected to do so. I had already picked up my pass, and Fr. Gregorio is over around 80 years old and had to give a talk, so they let him through. Once they gave him his credentials, he was told that apart from the credentials for those who had already registered and those who had come later, 20,000 credentials had been distributed. There were still long line-ups out on the sidewalks – I estimate between 7 and 8 blocks long – and they had to send to the printer to get more passes printed – so attendance will be good, better than expected.

Please see on-line for much more information in Spanish and in English (choose language) at http://pwccc.wordpress.com/

Read a summary of the positions being advocated by Bolivian President Morales during the conference.

OMI Joins UN Forum on Indigenous Peoples April 24th, 2008

An OMI delegation attended the opening of the UN Forum on Indigenous Peoples held in New York on April 21. The group included Joseph Gomes OMI, Daniel LeBlanc OMI, Walter Butor OMI, Nicanor Sarmiento OMI, and Rohan Silva OMI. The theme of this Seventh Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges.

Sanjeeb Drong, a close collaborator with the Oblates in Bangladesh, wrote about the opening day in an article published in the Daily Star of Bangladesh.

Meeting with lay collaborators in New York City on Tuesday evening, the group discussed the opening events which included addresses by Ban Ky Moon, UN Secretary General, and Evo Morales, President of Bolivia. The group also talked about the recent OMI seminar/workshop on Indigenous Peoples held in Bolivia. Walter Butor, OMI and Daniel LeBlanc, OMI both attended that session which took place in Cochabamba in February 2008.

Download PDF of Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples: Backgrounder

Return to Top