Welcome to the United Nations
Addressee: IFAD
Full Text
The Permanent Forum congratulates the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for the approval of its policy on engagement with indigenous peoples, consistent with international standards, in particular with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Development Group guidelines. In the implementation of the policy, the Forum encourages the Trust Fund to establish an indigenous peoples’ forum at IFAD, as an example of a good practice to be followed by other United Nations agencies and other intergovernmental organizations.
Responses
IFAD is fully implementing this recommendation. To this extent, in 2010 the Fund initiated a process leading towards the establishment of an indigenous peoples’ forum as part of the implementation of the IFAD’s Policy on IPs. In May, a brainstorming meeting with indigenous leaders took place in New York. The purpose of the meeting was to seek their views on the process to be followed in establishing an indigenous peoples’ forum at IFAD. In September, the same process was followed with the indigenous leaders Members of the IFAD Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility Board.
The first step towards establishing the Indigenous Peoples Forum at IFAD will be a two-day workshop organized by IFAD with the support of the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), scheduled to take place on 17 and 18 February 2011 in conjunction with the IFAD Governing Council.
The objective of the workshop is to discuss and agree upon the purpose and modalities of the Forum. Representatives of indigenous peoples’ organizations and IFAD Staff will discuss the possible directions, scope and objectives of the Forum, and how it should be organized and operate, including governance and participation criteria.
It is expected that the workshop will produce a statement on the establishment of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD, providing clear direction and guidelines on what the forum will be and how it will operate. It is also expected that the workshop will agree upon a “road map” on the Forum process for the next two years, after which the first global meeting of the Forum is expected to take place in conjunction with IFAD’s Governing Council in 2013. Among the thirty participants at the workshop, three Members of the UNPFII have confirmed their participation.
(Source: IFAD Report to the Tenth Session of UNPFII).
Final Report of UNPFII Session 9 (2010)
Area of Work
