World Tribal Day 2021: Leaving None Behind, A New Social Contract

Trisha Mehta

Pune, 09th August 2021: Every year on 09th August the world comes together to celebrate International Indigenous Day which is also known as the Adivasi or Tribal Day in India where one takes a pledge to protect the tribal people and their cultures from exploitation.

There are 476 million indigenous/tribal peoples living in 90 countries across the world, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the global population. This marks the day of the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in 1982 and in 1994 the UN declared that day i.e 09th August as World Indigenous Day.

India alone has 461 tribal communities across different parts of the country. As the country with the largest tribal population, it is our responsibility to raise awareness about protecting their rights. It also recognizes the achievements and contributions the indigenous people have made to India and the world at the greater level.

With increasing westernization and globalization it is the cultural and economic life of these tribes that face most of the exploitation, their lands are taken from them, they are displaced and their whole cultural and social system is disintegrated at the hand of urbanization. There this day is celebrated every year as a commitment to protect them, their tribal areas and their way of life.

This year’s theme is Leaving No One Behind, A Call For A New Social Contract.