United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII or PFII) is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. There are more than 370 million indigenous people (also known as native, original, aboriginal and first peoples) in some 70 countries worldwide.

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
AbbreviationUNPFII, PFII
Formation28 July 2000 (2000-07-28)
TypeIntergovernmental organization, Regulatory body, Advisory board
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersNew York, USA
Head
Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Anne Nuorgam
Parent organization
United Nations Economic and Social Council
WebsitePFII on www.un.org
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Plenary meeting of UNPFII (2015)
Maria Eugenia Choque Quispe, a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, speaks at the body's 2015 session.

The forum was created in 2000 as an outcome of the UN's International Year for the World's Indigenous People in 1993, within the first International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995–2004). It is an advisory body within the framework of the United Nations System that reports to the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

History

Resolution 45/164 of the United Nations General Assembly was adopted on 18 December 1990, proclaiming that 1993 would be the International Year for the World's Indigenous People, "with a view to strengthening international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous communities in areas such as human rights, the environment, development, education and health".[1][2] The year was launched in Australia by Prime Minister Paul Keating's memorable Redfern speech on 10 December 1992, in which he addressed Indigenous Australians' disadvantage.[3]

The creation of the permanent forum was discussed at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action recommended that such a forum should be established within the first United Nations International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples.[4]

A working group was formed and various other meetings took place that led to the establishment of the permanent forum by Economic and Social Council Resolution 2000/22 on 28 July 2000.[5]

Functions and operation

It submits recommendations to the Council on issues related to indigenous peoples. It holds a two-week session each year which takes place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City but it could also take place in Geneva or any other place as decided by the forum.

Mandate

The mandate of the Forum is to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. The forum is to:[6][7]

  • Provide expert advice and recommendations to the Economic and Social Council and to the various programmes, funds and agencies of the United Nations System through the Council;
  • Raise awareness and promote the integration and coordination of activities related to indigenous issues within the UN system;
  • Prepare and disseminate information on these issues.

Members

The forum is composed of 16 independent experts, functioning in their personal capacity, who are appointed to three-year terms. At the end of their term, they can be re-elected or re-appointed for one additional term.

Of these 16 members, eight are nominated by the member governments and eight directly nominated by indigenous organizations. Those nominated by the governments are then elected to office by the Economic and Social Council based on the five regional groupings of the United Nations. Whereas those nominated by indigenous organisations are appointed by the President of the Economic and Social Council and represent the seven socio-cultural regions for broad representation of the world's indigenous peoples.[7]

Members of the Permanent Forum, January 2020 to December 2022
Country of Origin Member[8] Region Nominated by Notes
 Finland Anne Nuorgam Arctic Indigenous Peoples' Organisations Chair of the Permanent Forum
   Nepal Phoolman Chaudhary Asia Indigenous Peoples' Organizations
 Chad Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim Africa Indigenous Peoples' Organizations
 Australia Hannah McGlade Pacific Indigenous Peoples' Organizations
 Colombia Darío José Mejía Montalvo Latin America and Caribbean States Indigenous Peoples' Organizations
 Bolivia Simón Freddy Condo Riveros Latin America and Caribbean States Indigenous Peoples' Organizations
 United States Geoffrey Roth North America Indigenous Peoples' Organizations
 Russia Aleksei Tsykarev Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia Indigenous Peoples' Organizations
 China Zhang Xiaoan Asia-Pacific States Governments
 Ecuador Lourdes Tibán Guala Latin America and the Caribbean Governments
 Burundi Vital Bambanze Africa Governments
 Denmark Tove Søvndahl Gant Western Europe and Other States Governments
 Russia Grigory Evguenievich Lukiyantsev Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia Governments
 Mexico Irma Pineda Santiago Latin America and the Caribbean Governments
 Namibia Bornface Museke Mate Africa Governments
 Estonia Sven-Erik Soosaar Western Europe and Other States Governments

Sessions

To date, eighteen sessions have been held, all at UN Headquarters, New York:[9]

Session Dates Theme
First Session 12 – 24 May 2002
Second Session 11 – 23 May 2003 "Indigenous Children and Youth"
Third Session 10 – 21 May 2004 "Indigenous Women"
Fourth Session 16 – 27 May 2005 "Millennium Development Goals and Indigenous Peoples with a focus on Goal 1 to Eradicate Poverty and Extreme Hunger, and Goal 2 to achieve universal primary education"
Fifth Session 15 – 26 May 2006 "The Millennium Development Goals and indigenous peoples: Re-defining the Millennium Development Goals"
Sixth Session 14 – 25 May 2007 "Territories, Lands and Natural Resources"
Seventh Session 21 April – 2 May 2008 "Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges"
Eight Session 18 – 29 May 2009
Ninth Session 19 – 30 April 2010 "Indigenous peoples: development with culture and identity articles 3 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples"
Tenth Session 16 – 27 May 2011
Eleventh Session 7 – 18 May 2012 "The Doctrine of Discovery: its enduring impact on indigenous peoples and the right to redress for past conquests (articles 28 and 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples)"
Twelfth Session 20 – 31 May 2013
Thirteenth Session 12 – 23 May 2014 "Principles of good governance consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: articles 3 to 6 and 46"
Fourteenth Session 20 April – 1 May 2015
Fifteenth Session 9 – 20 May 2016 "Indigenous peoples: conflict, peace and resolution"
Sixteenth Session 24 April – 5 May 2017 "Tenth Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: measures taken to implement the Declaration"
Seventeenth Session 16 – 27 April 2018 "Indigenous peoples' collective rights to lands, territories and resources"
Eighteenth Session 22 April – 3 May 2019 "Traditional knowledge: Generation, transmission and protection"[10]
Nineteenth Session 13 - 24 April 2020 "Peace, justice and strong institutions: the role of indigenous peoples in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16"[11]
Twentieth Session 19-30 April 2021 "Peace, justice and strong institutions: the role of indigenous peoples in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16"[12]
Twenty-first Session 25 April-6 May 2022 “Indigenous peoples, business, autonomy and the human rights principles of due diligence including free, prior and informed consent”[13]
Twenty-second 17-28 April 2023 “Indigenous Peoples, human health, planetary and territorial health and climate change: a rights-based approach”[14]

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the PFII was established by the General Assembly in 2002 with Resolution 57/191.[15] It is based in the New York within the Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).[16] The Secretariat, among other things, prepares the annual sessions of the Forum, provides support and assistance to the Forum's members, promotes awareness of indigenous issues within the UN system, governments and the public, and serves as a source of information and a coordination point for indigenous-related efforts.

International Decade of the World's Indigenous People

First Decade

The first International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, "Indigenous People: Partnership in Action" (1995–2004), was proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 48/163 with the main objective of strengthening international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous peoples in areas such as human rights, environment, development, health and education.[17]

Second Decade

The Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, "Partnership for Action and Dignity" (2005–2015), was proclaimed by the General Assembly at its 59th session, and the programme of action was adopted at the 60th session.[18]

Its objectives are:

  • Promoting non-discrimination and inclusion
  • Full and effective participation in decision-making
  • Re-define development policy from a vision of social equality
  • Adopt targeted policies with emphasis on special groups (women, children and youth)
  • Develop strong monitoring mechanisms and enhance accountability at all levels to protect the rights of indigenous peoples.

Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032)

On 28 February 2020, 500 participants of a high-level assembly adopted the "Los Pinos Declaration" which concentrates on the indigenous language users' human rights.

Regional groupings

To ensure diversity, members are elected from different regions depending on who nominated them:[7]

  • The United Nations Regional Groups are used for the eight members nominated by governments and elected by the Economic and Social Council:
    • African Group
    • Asia-Pacific Group
    • Eastern Europe Group
    • Latin America and the Caribbean Group
    • Western Europe and Other States Group
  • The seven socio-cultural regions are used for the eight nominated by indigenous organisations and appointed by the President of the Economic and Social Council:
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Central and South America and the Caribbean
    • The Arctic
    • Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia
    • North America
    • The Pacific
      • Note: Of the eight members nominated by indigenous organizations one must come from each of the seven regions, with one additional rotating seat among the first three first listed above.

See also

References
  1. UN General Assembly. "International Year for the World's Indigenous People, 1993 : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly 14 December 1992, A/RES/47/75". Refworld. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  2. "The International Year for the World's Indigenous People". Center for International Earth Science Information Network. 25 November 1992. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  3. Gilchrist, Catie (24 July 2020). "Redfern Park". The Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  4. Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action A/CONF.157/23 12 July 1993. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  5. United Nations Economic and Social Council Resolution 22. Establishment of a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues E/RES/2000/22 28 July 2000. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  6. "Permanent Forum". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  7. "Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  8. https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/unpfii-sessions-2/newmembers.html retrieved on 11.06.2020
  9. "Sessions". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  10. "Members of the Permanent Forum". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  11. "Permanent Forum | United Nations for Indigenous Peoples". www.un.org. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  12. United Nations. "UNPFII Twentieth Session: 19-30 April 2021". United Nations. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  14. https://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/unpfii/unpfii-twenty-second-session-17-28-april-2023
  15. United Nations General Assembly Session 57 Resolution 191. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues A/RES/57/191 18 December 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  16. "Contact Us". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  17. United Nations General Assembly Session 48 Resolution 163. International Decade of the World's Indigenous People A/RES/48/163 21 December 1993. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  18. United Nations General Assembly Session 59 Resolution 174. Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People A/RES/59/174 20 December 2004. Retrieved 16 November 2018.

Further reading
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