[music] announcer: today on "21st century"... in india, forgotten africans. colombia, women in the forefront of peace. and pedestrian power in georgia. in india, one ethnic group has a special bond with lions. [man speaking local language]

announcer: the siddi people are descendants of african slaves. the history of a forgotten people. narrator:r: they dance to t thet of the african drum, deep in the forest, mimicking a disappearing species that they've grown to love--the asiatic lion. they're part of the 20,000 siddis, an ethnic group of african descent, who live in gujarat, western india. [boy speaking local language] narrator: though far removed] from their a ancestral lands, te siddis s have cheherished their culture. [drums beating] now it's a source of income for

them. narrator: imran is a siddi, a descendant of the bantu people from southeast africa. he believes his ancestors originally came from uganda. now he lives in a small village called jambur, with his mother and grandmother. the village is surrounded by the forest of gir, the last bastion of the world's 500 remaining asiatic lions. centuries ago, africans from ethiopia, eritrea, and somalia sailed to the indian subcontinent as merchants, while others were brought as slaves. the siddis say they were an elite group of slaves, serving the ruling class only. because

of their loyalty and military skills, they were favored by india's nawabs, or muslim rulers, and the mughals, the muslim imperial power in the early 16th century. the siddis rose to positions of power, serving as kings themselves over princely city-states, a little known fact around the world. [indistinct conversation] narrator: ambassador syed akbaruddin, india's representative to the united nations, says the siddis form an important part of india's history. syed: these were a very small minority. look at what they've accomplished, for themself and for indian society. they rose to be noblemen, they rose to be commanders, soldiers, admirals. [indistinct chatter] narrator: over time, most

integrated fully with the local population, choosing partners of indian heritage. to preserve their african identity, some isolated themselves, creating small villages in various parts of gujarat. [indistinct speaker] narrator: curator and historian of the schomburg center in new york, sylviane diouf, who has tracked the siddi people's journey from the african coast to the indian subcontinent, explains the roots of the siddis currently residing in gir. sylvianene: the siddi today are the descendants of the 1800s people, as well as some africans who arrived, actually, later. narrator: among them were imran's ancestors, who were brought to india in the 19th century.

narrator: with the passage of time, some escaped slavery, establishing communities in forested areas. but totoday, life fofor thousanf siddis, such as imran, is far from glamorous. most live on the fringes of society in abject poverty.

narrator: they listened. and today imran and his friends support themselves by performing african dances, spiked with a bit of drama for visitors. [drums beating] and when he's not dancing, he works in gir forest as a guide. narrator: besides their strength, the siddis say that the nawabs also believed that they held a special relationship with the asiatic lions and to nature itself.

narrator: since the 1950s, the indian government has supported the siddis of gujarat through an affirmative action initiative, recognizing them as a special tribe and granting them individual rights. they've also made e it possible for them to draw benefit payments directly out of bank accounts. syed: they have access to education in a preferential manner. they also have access to jobs in a preferential manner. narrator: but imran says that accessing this aid is sometimes challenging.

narrator: and imran has another concern. gujarat's asiatic lion populatioion is thrhreatened by inincreased overcrowding andnd competitionon for space among bh animals and humans. and he calls for effective efforts to conserve the species.

narrator: the siddis want to stay here, living with the lions side by side. and when asked about their country of origin, they say without any hesitation... [mumusic]

announcer: in colombia, women in the forefront of peace. belen: colombian women have been extremely active, and they have r really become a veryy powerful p political voice, for ristance a as well asas for transformation. announcer: women play the central role in colombia's peace accord. announcer: making history in colombia, for the country and for women. narrator: colombia has signed a peacece accord, ending thee longest armed conflict in the western hemisphere. but the wounds of war are far from healed. 60 years of fighting has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people and forced millions from their homes. women were systematically targeted and endured decades of kidnappings, torture, and sexual violence. but they also emerged as central actors in the peace

negotiations. women fought for a seat at the peace table and helped expose the fufull extent of the warar's devastating impact on their lives. [deborah speaking spanish] narrator: deborah barros is a lawyer and human rights activist from the indigenous wayuu community in bahia portete on colombia's northern coast. the wayuu are colombia'ss largt iindigenous s group. in 2004, paaramilitaries attackcked deborah's vvillage seeking to expxpel the community from its ancestral homeland.

narrator: : despite repeated threats o on her lifefe, deborah emergeged as an ououtspoken lelr fofor victims of the conflict. she created an organization calleled "women weaving peaeace" seeking justice for victims of violence and human rights abuses.

narrator: bibiana penanaranda is an activist f from buenavavent, on colombia's pacific coast. the city is h home to hundreds f thousands ofof afro-colombians dispsplaced by y the conflict. belenen: colombiaian women haven extrememely active,e, and theyy have really become a very powerful popolitical voice, for r resistancece but also for transformation. narrator: belen sanz is the u u. wwomen representative in colombmbia. belen: ththe peace prprocess was announced publiicly in october 2012. at that t time, only men were plenipotentiary negogotiators, those who t take decisions in the table. women's movements called together about 500 women from all parts of

colobibia. ey w wertogethth for 3 daystheyeyad the support of n. women and thinternatatnal ommunityand d they advocated very strongly for having women present in the peace talks table, and as a result of this very strong push, the p president of colombiaia announced ththe nomination of to women plenipotentitiary withinie negotiators. so we started to see a change there. nnarrator:: followining the presidedent's announcncement, negotiators requested that victims travel to havana so that both sides could hear the testimonies of those most impacted by the war. belen sanz was among those who accompanied the victims. belen: 6060% of the victims whoo visited havana were women, and women from all diverse origins of colombia, and women who had been victims of differentnt forms of f human ris violations, including sexual violence, which was put forward as a key element.

announcer: in georgia, the former soviet republic, more cars on ththe road. but what if you don't have a car? announcer: a new campaign to improve rights for pedestrians. announcer: pedestrian power in georgia. narrator: tbilisi, the capital of georgia, home to 1.4 million people. the city's architecture

reflelects the country'y's pastt as papart of the soviet union. georgia gained independence in 1991 and is now striving to become a member of the euroropen union. but it is still a country in transitition. tthe tbilisi based p pedestrian rights organization iaiare pekht is working to promote the rights of pedestrians in georgia. in georgia and other s soviet states, the united nations democracy fund, undef, supports the transition to democracy by funding local civil society organizations such as iare pekhit. annika: this is not a project about road safety. this is a project about giving people power, particularly pedestrian power. i it's about putting g pe aat the centerer of society rarr than cars. narrator: in recent years, the volume of traffic on the streets of tbilisi has grown at an alarming rate. legislation to

meet the increased road use hasn't moved at the same pace. the majority of people don't own cars, but pedestrians, including the elderly and people with disabilities, are never given priority on the streets. traffic on rustaveli avenue, the central road that runs straight through the heart of the city, literally never stops. at each end, there is a b badly lit, insecure, and urine ininfested underpass, the only option for pedestrians to cross. the same situation is true in several capital cities in post-soviet states. annika: : trying to separate a post-soviet man from his cacar s like tryingng to separate genghs khan from his horse. [horse neighs] annika: he e will not do it willingly.y. but what we hope i, if f we start from the e young generation up, a new mindset can take hold. narrator: according to the latest statistics from the

ministry of internal affairs, road accidents in georgia have been increasing steadily over the past 3 years, and many of the victims are pedestrians. as in most of the former soviet union, there is a lingering tendency to subjugate humans to machines, because owning a machine means having power. walking or using public transport is considered inferior to driving. erekle: georgia has not significantly updated its traffic laws since the soviet time. so you could say that a lot of it is outdated, and the soviet city planning in general, urban design and traffic regulation, was more kind of car focused. it did not emphasize the rights of the pedestrians. narrator: erekle urushadze is on the board of iare pekhit, which means "go by foot" in english. with support from the u.n. democracy fund, iare pekhit identifies urban planning priorities and represenents pedestrian interests in the city's planning processes.

narrator: iare pekhit regularly organizes so-called ugly walk tours for concerned citizens to show how difficult it can be navigating the streets of tbililisi, and discuss how to brining about solutitions. ereke is the father of an 8-month-old baby girl, ana, living in an apartment building g in thehe center of tbilisi. moving around the city with a stroller is beset with difficulties. erekle wants the streets to be safer for his daughter's future. with iare pekhit, he's encouraging support for new legislation to improve road regulations and therefore make it easier for pedestrians negotiating the city streets. erekle: oh, it's important to have this new law in order to avoid having situations where there is no sisidewalk left, no place left f for pededestrias to walk, where sidewalks all around tbilisi are occupied by cars. and this is the result of the fact that our current regulations and penalties are too mild.

narrator: the current system relies on a private company, c.t. park, to manage parking in the capital, but critics say the mild financial penalties for parking illegally make it largely ineffective. the new legislation currently under discussioion in parliament would introduce a penalty point system, so that once a driver acacmulates a certaiain number f points, their d driving licenses revoked. guram chkhaidzeavaza has used a wheelchair since he was paralyzed following a road traffic accident in 1990. once outside his home, he struggles to maneuver around the streets of tbilisi. he often finds himself in situations like this.

narrator: resorting to calling the police to simply move around the streets is a daily reality for guram. activists hope that this can be changed by lobbying authorities to listen to the voice of the people and by campaigning for citizens' rights. one notable success was when a citizens' protest in 2013 stopped a large development in vake park, the largest green area in the center of tbilisi. erekle: people set up a camp here in the woods. and so eventually the company that was trying to start the construction, they backed off, and eventually, a couple of months ago, the court ruled that the construction permit was illegal, and the construction will no longer take place. [indistinctct chatter] narrator: sunday morning at the iarere pekhit office in tbiilis.

elene margvelashvili, the organization's director, and her teamam, are getting ready yr a demonstration in front of the georgian parliament. elene: today we're protesting with a group of different organizations, all working on didiffeferent road safefety iss. the poster says, "make road safety legal." so make it a law, turn it into the law, and this law has been stuck between two tiers, and no one is taking care of it. so our main request is to pressure the government, pressure the parliament to pass this road safety l law. [blowing horn] narrator: decision-makers at tbilisi city hall are now realizing that urban planning must become a priority. but now they face a new challenge-- changing people's mindsets. giorgi: it's not only the law and the enforcement that is mayybe our problem, but it's alo the behavior of the participants of our citizens. but again it

mumust be done coupled with the media campaign that aims at raising the public awareness in a way to impact positively to all the participants in their mobility. narrator: the vision for the future of tbilisi's younger generation is one where pedestrians won't fear moving around the city, where public transportation is improved, where it's safe to cross the road, and where drivers respect other road users. one where the municipality is responsive to the needs of its citizens and is able to listen to their voices for the benefit of all. anannika: when we started thisis project, there wasn't an organized movement forr pedestrian empowerment inin georgia. and i think very little in the post-soviet space as a whole. what we hoped in generating this project was that it could not only give the people of tbilisi the voice they need to empower themselves, but also to serve as a model for similar projects in other

countries of the region. narrator: through awareness- raraising activities by civil society organizations such as iare pekhit, georgia's future generations will be better informed and more mindful about traffic rules and pedestrians' rightsts. d humans w will be considered the masters of the machines, not vice-versa. [music]

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