International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples 2026 - Voices for Resilience: Indigenous Knowledge and Early Warning Systems

Background

Indigenous Peoples have developed their own systems for observing, monitoring, and responding to natural hazards over generations, drawing on a profound understanding of their territories. This knowledge includes the observation of bioindicators, climate patterns, animal behavior, hydrological cycles, historical memory, and community-based communication and organizational mechanisms that have helped reduce risk and strengthen the resilience of their communities.

The Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative recognizes the importance of ensuring that early warning systems are inclusive, people-centered, and culturally appropriate. However, significant challenges remain in systematically integrating Indigenous knowledge into national early warning systems.

In this context, the Indigenous Knowledge and Disaster Risk Reduction Network (IKDRRN), in collaboration with UNDRR, conducted a regional consultation throughout 2025 with Indigenous Peoples from Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions of the world. The findings highlight important opportunities to strengthen the intercultural governance of early warning systems and advance more effective protection for Indigenous communities.

Among the key findings are the limited participation of Indigenous Peoples in disaster risk governance and decision-making, barriers to accessing official information, and the strategic value of biocultural monitoring systems and community-based communication and response structures.

Objective

To promote the recognition and integration of Indigenous knowledge into multi-hazard early warning systems by presenting the main findings and recommendations of the analysis conducted by the Indigenous Knowledge and Disaster Risk Reduction Network (IKDRRN). The event will foster dialogue among Indigenous Peoples, governments, international organizations, and strategic partners to advance the implementation of inclusive early warning systems within the framework of the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative.