'This publication is the five-year-milestone of the Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program in the Africa Region of the World Bank. The main goal of the program is to learn from the knowledge embedded in the practices of local communities.'

'Indigenous people are found throughout the world. The United Nations estimates that more than 300 million indigenous people live in more than 70 countries. Most indigenous groups share the demographic profile of developing countries where youth, defined as those aged 10 to 24 years, comprise the largest segment of the population. In addition, these groups tend to be poor, rural, and left out of the process of economic development. Although there are vast differences among indigenous peoples, al more...

One of the most perplexing problems in the field of anthropology over the last hundred years has been the relationship between language and culture. Does language shape culture? Does culture shape language? Further, and perhaps more interesting, does language shape our cognition, effecting the very way that we see the world? Similarly, does culture shape our language in such a way that the very words, concepts, and semantic structures within a language are the direct result of the culture’s ph more...

On May 2008, the Australian Government released this discussion paper regarding planning of a strategy for Indigenous economic development.

This study examines American Indian parents’ perceptions of parent involvement in their children’s education and factors that may encourage or discourage involvement.

A better understanding of American Indian parent involvement was considered as a possible solution to narrow the achievement gap for American Indian students. Five focus groups, consisting of 47 self-selected parents, were conducted in one state in the Central Region. Factors perceived to encourage parent involvement include more...

Capacity-building work with the poorest community in Europe, the Roma, has enhanced advocacy, lobbying and negotiating skills that have led to improved interaction with local authorities on education and discrimination.

Indigenous education improves the Pulangiyen quality of life and provides a model for the promotion of culture-based education throughout the country.

A member of Nepal's 'untouchable' Dalit caste group, Suresh faced a future of constant humiliation, restricted to the most menial and unpleasant jobs, because protective government legislation is rarely enforced.

Noting that there seemed to be relatively few young painters emerging in the region, in January 2003 the Ethnic Arts Foundation established a free Mithila Art Institute (MIA) in Madhubani, Bihar - to encourage and help train a new generation of Mithila painters. In March 2003, twenty-five students from the surrounding region were selected in a blind competition – from over 100 applicants – for a year-long course of study with the MIA Director, Santosh Kumar Das, one of the major contemporar more...

In general, Mithili women take charge of the ritual life of the families, and provide the wall and floor paintings that accompany the household’s daily, annual, and life cycle rituals. In painting the marriage chamber in their home, the khobar-ghar, the oldest women of the family whose husband is still alive and who has living children will begin the painting with a red dot at the center-point of to east wall. Then the best available artist in the extended family draws in the major figures and more...