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Addressee: Nordic States
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The Permanent Forum urges the Nordic States to ratify, as soon as possible, the Nordic Saami Convention, which could set an example for other indigenous peoples whose traditional territories are divided by international borders.
Responses
Finland reports (2010): The work for the Nordic Sámi Convention has been continued both on national and Nordic level after the delivery of the Expert Group Report on the Draft Nordic Sámi Convention to the ministers responsible for coordination of Sámi issues (the Sámi Ministers) in Finland, Norway and Sweden and to the Presidents of the three Sámi Parliaments (the Sámi Presidents) of the three countries in November 2005.
A national round of statements was organised with regard to the Expert Group Report in each of the three countries. Based on the feedback from the round of statements, the draft Convention does not seem readily acceptable as such in Finland, Sweden or Norway. However, the draft Convention is seen as a good point of departure for negotiations on the Nordic Sámi Convention.
On 8 January 2009, the Ministry of Justice set up a national working group with the task of assessing the relation between the draft Convention and the Finnish Constitution, other domestic legislation and the international human rights obligations binding on Finland. The working group is submitted its report to the Minister of Justice in fall 2009.
The Sámi Ministers and the Sámi Presidents decided in their annual meeting in November 2008 to find, by their 2009 meeting, a practical way to initiate the negotiations on the Draft Convention. However, the meeting of 2009 has been postponed and will be held in spring 2010.
Final Report of UNPFII Session 8 (2009)
Area of Work
