UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Blog

25th Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 12th Meeting (PM) 1 May 2026

At 3 p.m. on Friday, 1 May, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will conclude its twenty-fifth session. The two-week session - which opened on 20 April and featured an address by Secretary-General António Guterres - has focused on the theme “Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ health, including in the context of conflict”. The Forum - a high-level advisory body of the Economic and Social Council - was established in 2000 by resolution 2000/22, with the mandate to address Indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.
Meetings Coverage
HR/5494

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Concludes Annual Session, Adopting Range of Texts on ‘Inseparable’ Links between Health, Culture, Lands

The largest global gathering of Indigenous Peoples concluded its annual session at the United Nations today, adopting a number of recommendations, one of which drew attention to how Indigenous Peoples’ health is “cultural, collective and rooted in ancestral territories, languages, spiritual practices and governance systems”.

Meetings Coverage
HR/5491

Mining Companies Must Obtain Free, Prior, Informed Consent, Partner with Indigenous Peoples to Ensure Responsible, Ethical Land Use, Speakers Tell Permanent Forum

Mining companies must obtain free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous Peoples when pursuing projects on their ancestral lands, speakers emphasized at the 2025 session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues — a high-level advisory body to the Economic and Social Council. Participants also discussed how partnerships can mobilize adequate development finance for Indigenous communities.

Noon Briefings

Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that escalating violence continue to harm civilians there. In North Kivu province, partners estimate that more than 2,300 people fled clashes between armed groups in the Kibua area of Walikale Territory on 15 April.

Press Release
HR/5489

At Annual United Nations Forum, Participants Call on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Be Upheld

Representing the largest international annual gathering of Indigenous Peoples with around 1,000 participants, the twenty-fourth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues opened today at UN Headquarters in New York, putting a spotlight on some of the most urgent and interconnected issues facing Indigenous Peoples today.