Minnie Degawan

Minnie Degawan is a Kankanaey Igorot from the Cordillera, philippines. She is a lifetime activist for the recognition of IP rights, from when she was a student supporting the struggle of the Kalinga people for justice when their anti-dam leader was killed in 1982. She then joined the Cordillera Peoples Alliance and was elected as its Secretary General, and in such capacity she participated in the drafting of the UNDRIP during the UNWGIP days. She was among the pioneers of indigenous caucuses which led to the creation on the International Alliance of Indigenous and Traditional Peoples of the Tropical Forests in 1990. She then headed the DINTEG - Indigenous Peoples Legal Resource Center which lobbied for, and critiqued laws on Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines, such as the IPRA. She was the regional coordinator of the ILO Project on ILO169 before leading the GEF-funded project that sought to strengthen Indigenous Peoples participation in biodiversity use and conservation, the Indigenous Peoples Network for Change. When the UNDRIP was adopted, she decided to join conservation groups to see how it is implemented on the ground. She is currently the Director of the Indigenous Peoples Program at Conservation International where she is exposed to how conservation and Indigenous Peoples rights intersect. She is currently based in the Cordillera, Philippines.