International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

Today, on August 9th, we celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. On this day, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reaffirms its commitment to working with indigenous peoples and helping them use intellectual property to ensure their social, economic and cultural well-being.

Last year, the WIPO member States adopted by consensus the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Related Traditional Knowledge, the first WIPO document to include provisions related to indigenous peoples. 44 Countries from developed and developing regions have signed this historic Treaty, and two of them have already ratified it. Only 13 ratifications are needed for its entry into force.

This, along with the ongoing discussions in the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on other issues of concern to indigenous peoples, demonstrates WIPO's continued commitment to ensuring the relevance of the intellectual property ecosystem to these custodians of wisdom, heritage and knowledge. In addition to international negotiations and discussions, WIPO also works with indigenous peoples on the ground. Their community entrepreneurship development program helps indigenous women like Yolanda Hernandez Gomez, a representative of the Tzotzil people who practices hand weaving in the Chiapas region of Mexico, strategically and effectively use intellectual property to grow their businesses. This benefits not only Yolanda, but also other Tsotsil women artisans who are members of the same cooperative as her. Over the past four years, programs, projects, and support have reached 400 000 young people, 300 000 women, and 200 000 small and medium-sized enterprises.

The theme of this year's International Day is "Indigenous Peoples and Artificial Intelligence (AI)", a topic of particular importance in the world, given the impact of AI on innovation, creativity and culture. On this day, let's remind ourselves that technology exists to meet the needs of humanity, and find the best use for these technologies to allow them to preserve, protect, promote, and strengthen the collective wisdom, spirit, and accumulated knowledge of those who came before us and those who are the custodians of this knowledge today.

In the context of these international priorities, Qazpatent consistently supports initiatives aimed at protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in the field of intellectual property. Qazpatent promotes the development of legal and institutional mechanisms for the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions, and also takes into account the international experience of WIPO in shaping national practice. Special attention is paid to the responsible use of modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, in order to preserve and promote cultural heritage, traditional wisdom and collective knowledge for the benefit of present and future generations.