United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

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United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Emblem of the United Nations.svg
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Logo.png
AbbreviationUNPFII, PFII
Formation28 July 2000;21 years ago (2000-07-28)
Type Intergovernmental organization, Regulatory body, Advisory board
Legal statusActive
Headquarters New York, USA
Head
Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Flag of Finland.svg Anne Nuorgam
Parent organization
United Nations Economic and Social Council
Website PFII on www.un.org
A coloured voting box.svg   Politicsportal

Plenary meeting of UNPFII (2015) UNPFII 2015 Plenary.jpg
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. UNPFII 2015 - Maria Eugenia Choque.jpg
Maria Eugenia Choque Quispe, a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, speaks at the body's 2015 session.
Brenda White Bull, descendant of Sitting Bull, speaks at UN about fight against Dakota Access and State Violence, 25 April 2017.

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.

Contents

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.[ citation needed ]

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]

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 OriginMember [8] RegionNominated byNotes
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Anne Nuorgam ArcticIndigenous Peoples' OrganisationsChair of the Permanent Forum
Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal Phoolman ChaudharyAsiaIndigenous Peoples' Organizations
Flag of Chad.svg  Chad Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim AfricaIndigenous Peoples' Organizations
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Hannah McGlade PacificIndigenous Peoples' Organizations
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia Darío José Mejía MontalvoLatin America and Caribbean StatesIndigenous Peoples' Organizations
Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg  Bolivia Simón Freddy Condo RiverosLatin America and Caribbean StatesIndigenous Peoples' Organizations
Flag of the United States.svg  United States Geoffrey RothNorth AmericaIndigenous Peoples' Organizations
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Aleksei TsykarevCentral and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and TranscaucasiaIndigenous Peoples' Organizations
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Zhang XiaoanAsia-Pacific StatesGovernments
Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador Lourdes Tibán Guala Latin America and the CaribbeanGovernments
Flag of Burundi.svg  Burundi Vital BambanzeAfricaGovernments
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Tove Søvndahl GantWestern Europe and Other StatesGovernments
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Grigory Evguenievich LukiyantsevCentral and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and TranscaucasiaGovernments
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico Irma Pineda SantiagoLatin America and the CaribbeanGovernments
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia Bornface Museke MateAfricaGovernments
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia Sven-Erik SoosaarWestern Europe and Other StatesGovernments

Sessions

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

SessionDatesTheme
First Session12 – 24 May 2002
Second Session11 – 23 May 2003"Indigenous Children and Youth"
Third Session10 – 21 May 2004"Indigenous Women"
Fourth Session16 – 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 Session15 – 26 May 2006"The Millennium Development Goals and indigenous peoples: Re-defining the Millennium Development Goals"
Sixth Session14 – 25 May 2007"Territories, Lands and Natural Resources"
Seventh Session21 April – 2 May 2008"Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges"
Eight Session18 – 29 May 2009
Ninth Session19 – 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 Session16 – 27 May 2011
Eleventh Session7 – 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 Session20 – 31 May 2013
Thirteenth Session12 – 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 Session20 April – 1 May 2015
Fifteenth Session9 – 20 May 2016"Indigenous peoples: conflict, peace and resolution"
Sixteenth Session24 April – 5 May 2017"Tenth Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: measures taken to implement the Declaration"
Seventeenth Session16 – 27 April 2018"Indigenous peoples' collective rights to lands, territories and resources"
Eighteenth Session22 April – 3 May 2019"Traditional knowledge: Generation, transmission and protection" [10]
Nineteenth Session13 - 24 April 2020"Peace, justice and strong institutions: the role of indigenous peoples in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16" [11]

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the PFII was established by the General Assembly in 2002 with Resolution 57/191. [12] 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). [13] 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. [14]

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. [15]

Its objectives are:

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]

See also

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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 ActionA/CONF.157/23 12 July 1993. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  5. United Nations Economic and Social Council Resolution22. Establishment of a Permanent Forum on Indigenous IssuesE/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. 1 2 3 "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 General Assembly Session 57 Resolution191. Permanent Forum on Indigenous IssuesA/RES/57/191 18 December 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  13. "Contact Us". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  14. United Nations General Assembly Session 48 Resolution163. International Decade of the World's Indigenous PeopleA/RES/48/163 21 December 1993. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  15. United Nations General Assembly Session 59 Resolution174. Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous PeopleA/RES/59/174 20 December 2004. Retrieved 16 November 2018.

Further reading