Nia Tero 2022 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 13
INTRODUCTION
It has been over five years since we
commenced operations. Half a decade of
mission-driven work was once a distant
horizon, but it’s now close enough to grasp.
Our most distant horizon is the global
realization through self-determination
of Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship of
their traditional territories. The vehicle
for our voyage is the design, nurture, and
proliferation of trust–based partnerships with
Indigenous Peoples. Our most powerful tools
are our ears: to listen with care and humility
to Indigenous aspirations and dreams, and,
with the same care and humility, to do
all we can to support them. In this, we
serve all of humanity, for we all benefit
when Indigenous Peoples—their cultures,
languages, practices and values—thrive
within their traditional territories.
While 2022 has been a difficult year for us all,
we're finding ways to come together again
as people need to do, to build on what has
been achieved. There’s new, growing energy
in the area in which we work. Unprecedented
opportunities exist to build favorable national
and international policy frameworks to
attain Indigenous guardianship of territory.
More resources are becoming available as
governments and private enterprise discover
the importance of Indigenous guardianship
of territory for us all. And there’s greater
worldwide awareness of the importance of
protecting Indigenous rights, self-determination,
traditions, and values.
Still, threats remain and paradoxically
grow as the power of Indigenous voices
grows. The pandemic continues to threaten
some Indigenous communities, as does
continued violence, extractive incursions
into their territories, climate change impacts,
the impoverishment of Indigenous-led
movements, and more.
All these factors, positive and negative,
mean the demand for Nia Tero’s resources
and capacity has never been greater. We
need more organizations willing to work for
the protection of Indigenous Peoples and
their territories. As Nia Tero heads into our
second half-decade, our commitment to
working in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples
to achieve guardianship of their territories
remains undimmed; and the distant horizon
of its fulfillment on a global scale is a little
closer than it was.
I commend this annual report, not just
because it contains useful information
about our work in 2022 and our goals
going forward, but because it serves as an
important invitation for you to join us on
our journey to the next horizon.
Mauri ora ki a koutou katoa.
Joseph Williams
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
THRIVING PEOPLES. THRIVING PLACES.
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