Economic and Social Council

Chronic marginalization, insecurity, non-recognition of land rights, poor infrastructure and limited commercialization had all combined to make traditional pastoralists some of the poorest, most vulnerable and disenfranchised people in the world, speakers stated today as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues considered the plight of those populations in Africa.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today continued vetting the dozens of applications before it, recommending special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for 28 organizations, general consultative status for 1, and deferring action on 29 applications.

A positive trend was emerging towards consolidated legal frameworks for the rights of Africa’s 50 million indigenous people, said experts at a Headquarters press conference today, as they convened on the margins of the twelfth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The rights of indigenous people across all areas of human endeavours must be respected, advanced and their participation guaranteed in formulating any decisions affecting them, speakers said, as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues met today to take up the issue of human rights.

Continuing to vet dozens of applications before it, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for 22 organizations — 17 from the global North and 5 from the South — and deferring action on 31 applications.

Indigenous youth should have the right to receive education in their mother tongue and determine their curricula in line with their time-tested cultures and customs, rather than be obliged to assimilate into a mainstream educational system virtually unresponsive to their way of life, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues heard today as it continued its work.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today continued the process of vetting the dozens of applications before it, recommending special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for 53 organizations — 26 from the South and 27 from the North — and deferring action on the status of 17 others.

Opening its regular session for 2013, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, which is responsible for vetting applications seeking consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, today recommended special consultative status for 40 organizations, all but 8 of which were based in countries in the global South.

At a Headquarters press conference today, advocates for indigenous people called on Governments worldwide to work with them to improve the lot of indigenous communities battling land dispossession, exploitation of their natural resources, endemic poverty and socioeconomic marginalization.

More than 2,000 indigenous participants from all regions of the world are expected to attend the twelfth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at New York Headquarters from 20 to 31 May, where members will engage with indigenous peoples, Member States and agencies of the world body.