Globally, although the indigenous peoples represent only about 5 per cent of the world's population, they occupy one-fifth of entire earth's territory from the Arctic to the South Pacific. Despite their hold over vast swathes of land, indigenous peoples make up 15 per cent of the world's poor and one-third of the world's 900 million extremely poor rural people.

As the world marks the International Day for Street Children today, children in street situations serve as a grim reminder of how one of the most marginalised and vulnerable groups in the world continues to be deprived of their basic rights; failed by governments, institutions and societies.

The penalties for same-sex relations include 25 years jail in Trinidad and Tobago and 20 years plus flogging in Malaysia. Six Commonwealth countries stipulate life imprisonment: Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh and Guyana. In parts of Nigeria and Pakistan, same-sex relationships can be punishable by death.Commonwealth states account for more than half of the countries in the world that still outlaw homosexuality. This defies the Commonwealth's ostensible commitment to equality and human rights.