August 9 marks the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. It is observed each year around the world to protect the rights of the indigenous population. People of tribal community live in more than 90 countries of the world and are struggling to save their existence, culture and honor. This is the reason that every year 9 August is celebrated as International Tribal Day to promote and encourage the tribal tribes apart from uplifting the tribal society and saving their culture and honor.
On this day, the United Nations and government institutions of many countries as well as people of tribal communities, tribal organizations organize mass celebrations around the world. In these programs, apart from various discussions and concerts, different types of awareness programs are done. The commemoration takes place in recognition of the inaugural session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations at the United Nations in 1982, in Geneva. It was the first meeting where the UN body was tasked with drafting the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In April 2000, The Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution to set up the Permanent UN Forum on Indigenous issues that was presented by the Economic and Social Council. The forum focused and discussed the issues related to education, culture, economic and social development, environment, health, human rights, among other areas. The goal was mainly to strengthen international cooperation for solving problems faced by the global indigenous population. For the first time Tribal Day was celebrated in America in 1994.
Since then, 9th August is celebrated as Tribal Day all over the world. The United Nations General Assembly first declared 1994 the International Year of Indigenous Peoples. At the same time, 1995-2004 was declared as the first international decade. The UN then declared 2005–2015 as the Second International Decade in 2004, with the theme of “A Decade for Action and Dignity”. The United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 49/214 of 23 December 1994, declared 9 August to be an International Day every year. After this, International Tribal Day was celebrated for the first time on 9 August 1995 all over the world.
