September 5 is not simply a date on the calendar. It is the expression of a historical memory, decades of organizing, and the capacity of Indigenous Women to transform their struggles and proposals into international commitments.

In 2026, the world marks the first global commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Women and Girls following its proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly. To understand the significance of this moment, it is necessary to look beyond the resolution adopted in 2025. The story began much earlier: in the territories, in the memory of the ancestors, and in the collective organizing of Indigenous Women.

A Date Born from Memory, Not from a Resolution

September 5 is closely linked to the legacy of Bartolina Sisa, an Aymara leader who, together with other authorities and communities, led anticolonial resistance in the territory we now know as Bolivia. She was executed on September 5, 1782, but her name and leadership remained alive in the memory of Indigenous Peoples.

Two centuries later, that memory began to take shape as a political commemoration. One of the earliest documented references to September 5 as the International Day of Indigenous Women dates to around 1983, during the Second Meeting of Organizations and Movements of the Americas in Tiahuanaco, Bolivia.

For this reason, saying that the UN “created” September 5 would erase a fundamental part of its history. The date already carried deep meaning for Indigenous Women and their organizations. What the General Assembly did in 2025 was to formally recognize this long-standing commemoration within the international system.

This recognition was the result of a diplomatic process led by the Plurinational State of Bolivia, which submitted draft resolution A/80/L.11 to the General Assembly, co-sponsored by a cross-regional group of Member States.

From Territorial Struggles to a Global Movement

During the 1990s, Indigenous Women expanded their networks and brought their agendas into regional and international spaces. The processes in Quito, Beijing, and Agadir in 1995 were decisive moments for connecting experiences and strengthening a shared agenda.

Organizations such as the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas (ECMIA) and the African Indigenous Women’s Organization (AIWO) strengthened regional coordination. Within this same process, the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI) also began to take shape as a global mechanism capable of connecting Indigenous Women from the world’s seven sociocultural regions.

This articulation strengthened the ability of Indigenous Women to engage the international community as political actors with their own knowledge, rights, proposals, and priorities.

As a result, issues they had long defended within their communities—collective rights, the protection of territories, political participation, the eradication of violence, and the transmission of knowledge—began to gain increasing visibility on the international agenda.

Transforming Demands into Recognized Rights

The recognition achieved in 2025 was also made possible by an international architecture of rights built over decades. Among its main milestones are:

• 1989: International Labour Organization Convention No. 169, the first legally binding international treaty specifically dedicated to the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• 2000: Establishment of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
• 2005 and 2012: Resolutions of the Commission on the Status of Women that increasingly recognized the situation and political agency of Indigenous Women.
• 2007: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• 2022: CEDAW General Recommendation No. 39, the most comprehensive international instrument specifically dedicated to the rights of Indigenous Women and Girls.

General Recommendation No. 39 was especially significant because it recognized both the intersecting forms of discrimination faced by Indigenous Women and Girls and their roles as leaders, defenders, authorities, knowledge holders, and full rights holders.

From Global Advocacy to Universal Recognition

Between 2023 and 2025, new political momentum emerged. The implementation of General Recommendation No. 39, the Beijing+30 process, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues once again placed the rights and proposals of Indigenous Women at the center of the multilateral agenda.

In November 2025, Bolivia submitted the draft resolution to the United Nations General Assembly. On November 26, the General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/80/10 and officially proclaimed the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Women and Girls.

The decision brought into the universal sphere a commemoration that had been sustained for decades by Indigenous Women, organizations, and movements. The resolution did not create the political memory of September 5; it recognized it and transformed it into a commitment for the international community.

What Has FIMI’s Contribution Been?

FIMI did not create September 5. Its contribution has been to help build the political, organizational, and normative conditions needed for the leadership of Indigenous Women to be heard and recognized globally.

For more than 25 years, FIMI has strengthened networks and organizations, supported leadership, generated knowledge grounded in Indigenous perspectives, and advocated in multilateral spaces. It has also served as a bridge between realities in the territories, regional agendas, and international human rights mechanisms.

From this position, FIMI helps convene this first global commemoration under the UN proclamation by recognizing the ancestors, the organizations that sustained the date, and the networks and actors who made its universal recognition possible.

What Must Change as a Result of This Commemoration?

An international day can make a cause visible, but its true value depends on what happens afterward. Resolution A/RES/80/10 must translate into political attention, resources, and concrete monitoring mechanisms.

For States and international institutions, this means implementing already recognized rights and guaranteeing the effective participation of Indigenous Women and Girls. For international cooperation and philanthropy, it means directly funding their organizations and recognizing their knowledge and priorities. For the media, it means telling their stories through the lens of leadership, diversity, and agency.

The necessary commitments include:

• Implementing CEDAW’s General Recommendation No. 39 in laws, policies, budgets, and programs.
• Ensuring the availability of disaggregated data that highlights inequalities.
• Allocating direct, flexible, and sustainable resources to Indigenous Women’s organizations.
• Guaranteeing their full and effective participation at every level of decision-making.
• Protecting their individual and collective rights, territories, cultures, and knowledge systems.
• Explicitly including the voices and proposals of Indigenous Girls and Young Women.

A New Chapter in a Continuing Story

The first global commemoration of the International Day of Indigenous Women and Girls represents an achievement, but it is not the end of the journey. It is an opportunity for the international community to listen, recognize, and act in a manner that matches the leadership Indigenous Women have always exercised.

September 5 reminds us that international change begins long before it reaches a resolution: when memory is preserved, when organizations come together, when voices from the territories are articulated, and when collective demands succeed in transforming global norms and decisions.

Today, this history calls on States, international organizations, international cooperation, philanthropy, the media, and social movements to build the next chapter together with Indigenous Women and Girls.

Indigenous Women Have Always Led: Advancing Global Commitment