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.
The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues concluded its thirteenth session today, sending nine draft reports to the Economic and Social Council containing proposals, recommendations and five draft decisions, including a call for the General Assembly President to act swiftly to ensure the fullest participation of indigenous peoples in all aspects of the World Conference set for September.
Protecting indigenous traditional knowledge, creating inclusive political systems and halting Government land grabs should be among the priorities guiding the future work of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, delegates heard today on the penultimate day of the body’s two-week thirteenth session.
While progress had been made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, indigenous peoples were disproportionately represented in those still unfulfilled, especially poverty reduction, speakers in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues said today, urging that a multicultural vision of humanity guide the formulation of the post-2015 development agenda and that their voices be respected in each crucial stage of deliberations.
Fighting racial discrimination and striving to be acknowledged by States were among the challenges facing indigenous communities worldwide, requiring more collaborative efforts to effect meaningful change, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues heard today during its day-long consideration of human rights.
Indigenous peoples must be able to participate fully, equally and effectively in all stages of the upcoming high-level General Assembly meeting to address their most important concerns, speakers said today as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues debated — at times forcefully — the essential elements for contributing to the unprecedented event.
Against a backdrop pockmarked by cultural disintegration, “suicide clusters” and family displacements from extractive industries, speakers today in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples urged prompt and concerted action to reverse those trends and improve the lives of indigenous children and youth worldwide.
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.
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.
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.
