Survival International

**History and Structure:**
– Founded in 1969 as the Primitive Peoples Fund.
– Incorporated as an English company in 1972 and registered as a charity in 1974.
– First to use mass letter-writing in campaigns.
– Received awards like the Right Livelihood Award.
– Works on education, advocacy, and campaigns.
– Offers tribal people a platform to address the world.
– Educational programs aim to promote respect for tribal cultures.
– Has supporters in 82 countries.
– Refuses government funding for freedom of action.
– Associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations.
– Consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
– Founding member and signatory organization of the International NGO Accountability Charter.
– Offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and San Francisco.

**Tribes and Indigenous Peoples:**
– Over 150 million tribal people worldwide.
– At least 100 uncontacted peoples in 60 countries.
– Face threats like diseases, logging, mining, and eviction.
– Indigenous rights to land ownership not effectively respected.
– Impact of outside world dramatic on tribal existence.
– Logging, cattle ranching, drug plantations, and mining are major threats affecting tribes globally.
– Over 300 million Indigenous people exist worldwide, with an estimated 100 uncontacted tribes.

**Campaigns and Advocacy:**
– Focus on tribal peoples’ desires to keep ancestral lands.
– Aims to eradicate misconceptions justifying human rights violations.
– Publicizes harm caused to tribes by corporations and governments.
– Aims to foster tribal peoples’ self-determination.
– Campaigns for uncontacted tribes in Peru, unidentified Indigenous people in Brazil, Russia, West Papua, and about 30 tribes in South America, Africa, and Asia.
– Selection criteria for cases include reliability of information, severity of the situation, potential impact of their work, existing efforts by other organizations, and alignment with the tribes’ wishes.

**Challenges and Controversies:**
– Indigenous tribes face threats like genocide, forced relocation, loss of sustainability, and changes in lifestyle due to land invasion for resource exploitation.
– Direct attacks on tribal cultures by missionaries and outsiders have led to assimilation and destruction of traditions.
– Social consequences of displacement include increased suicide rates, alcoholism, violence, and vulnerability to sexual exploitation.
– Survival International has faced challenges with media coverage, including bans on advertisements and doubts cast on reporting accuracy.
– Government policies have sometimes conflicted with the protection of Indigenous territories, leading to threats on tribal existence.

**Media Coverage and International Response:**
– Survival International has garnered media attention over the years with campaigns and support from celebrities like Richard Gere, Julie Christie, Judi Dench, and Colin Firth.
– Various media outlets have covered Survival International’s campaigns and advocacy work.
– The organization has won the Right Livelihood Award for its efforts.
– Survival International campaigns for the protection of uncontacted tribes.
– The movement for tribal peoples has gained global recognition and support.