International Institute for
Indigenous Resource Management

News from the Institute, January 2001

IIIRM-UNESCO Meetings

Jeanne Rubin, Lyndel Prott, Rosa Marie Durand, and Patrick O'Keefe.

Paris, January 2001. In late January, senior staff members of the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management participated in a series of high level meetings in Paris, France with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officials. The meetings were arranged by Dr. Lyndel Prott, Director of UNESCO's Cultural Heritage Division.

Institute president, Mervyn Tano, and general counsel, Jeanne Rubin, who were visiting Dr. Prott and her husband Dr. Patrick O'Keefe, an international cultural resource consultant, said the meetings were called to discuss the role international organizations and non-governmental organizations can play to help indigenous peoples protect their traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights and manage their cultural resources.

"Dr. Prott has long been aware of the work of the Institute. The meetings were held because UNESCO officials are interested in what the Institute is doing," Tano said, "and to explore ways the Institute and UNESCO could collaborate on these kinds of projects."

UNESCO officials were especially interested in the Institute's work on the use of traditional knowledge and cultural practices to protect people and manage the risks from environmental contamination. The Institute was invited to present the results of its research in the UNESCO-sponsored Symposium and Book Fair entitled "Indigenous Identities: Oral, Written Expressions and New Technologies" which will take place at UNESCO Headquarters from May 15-18, 2001.

UNESCO officials attending the meetings included Rosa Marie Durand, Field Office Director of Hanoi, Douglas Nakashima, Paris Program Specialist, Carmen Negrin, Program Specialist for the Division of Cultural Policies, and Frederic Vacheron, Division of Cultural Pluralism.