As a thematic advisory body of the Human Rights Council, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples must include the full, effective, and equal participation of all concerned communities, speakers stressed today, as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues held a discussion on an optional protocol to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous peoples lived in situations of extreme social and economic disadvantage, speakers in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues said today, pressing Governments to improve their access to basic services, respect their traditional livelihoods, and both return — and protect — the sacred lands on which their survival depended.

Standard measurements of well-being did not capture the distinct economic, social, and cultural aspects of indigenous peoples’ lives, speakers in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues said today, as they explored the type of information needed to accurately quantify their unique development experiences and how to collect it.

Indigenous peoples represented 15 per cent of the world’s poor and faced huge disparities in terms of hunger, malnutrition and access to health care, even in developed countries, speakers in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues said today, stressing that their distinct identities and rights should be recognized in the post-2015 development agenda.

Now 15 years old, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was in “real need” of reform to better respond to the socioeconomic, cultural and human rights concerns of its constituents — both within their respective territories and throughout the United Nations system, speakers stressed today as the 16-member body moved into day three of its fourteenth session.

To be truly transformative, the post-2015 development framework must include the rights of indigenous peoples, the Deputy Secretary-General said today, stressing to participants at the fourteenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, that it was time for them to be at the forefront of an agenda that left no one behind.

More than 2,000 indigenous participants from all regions of the world are expected to attend the fourteenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 20 April to 1 May, where Members of the Permanent Forum will engage with indigenous peoples, United Nations Member States, and United Nations agencies.  

While land was a persistent source of conflict between Governments and indigenous peoples around the world, adequate State recognition of indigenous land claims and the equitable resolution of disputes had fostered avenues for peace and stability in Bangladesh and the Philippines, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues heard today, as it concluded its review of good governance principles.

Asia had the highest concentration of indigenous and tribal peoples in the world — more than 150 million — yet many were disproportionately vulnerable to poverty, marginalization and human rights violations, as Governments prioritized economic development over respect for traditional cultures, lands and identities, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues heard today during a half-day panel discussion on the region.

State-designed policies and laws that exacerbated the marginalization of communities must be reviewed, overhauled and transformed into inclusive and transparent legislation that ended the “nefarious underbelly of colonization”, delegates heard today as the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues continued its thirteenth session.