Young people trained to protect indigenous ancestral lands in Malaysia

An UNDEF project in Malaysia completed its work to strengthen indigenous community land protection through empowerment of local action groups and youth in Central and South-Eastern Perak State. The project worked hard to overcome a range of serious challenges – from pandemic restrictions to resistance from village heads – to strengthen advocacy for claims to ancestral lands, including by training indigenous youth in ancestral land mapping and developing family trees as a basis for land claims. A Memorandum on the Recognition of Indigenous Customary Land Claims was even endorsed by the Perak State Chief Minister in November 2021.