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Addressee: UN system/UN agencies
Full Text
The Permanent Forum requests that the specialized agencies of the United Nations, in accordance with articles 41 and 42 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, review their policies and programmes in order to comply with the provisions contained in the Declaration ensuring respect for the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples and the right to free, prior and informed consent.
Responses
OHCHR reports: 8. The OHCHR field presences have been active in promoting the Declaration, organizing or participating in events related to the celebration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, translating the Declaration into national or indigenous languages, and developing tools to promote greater awareness of the existing standards to advance the rights of indigenous peoples. For example, the Subregional Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa, located in Yaoundé, organized jointly with the Ministry of Social Affairs of Cameroon, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), a media event to raise awareness about the human rights situation of indigenous communities in the region and promote the role of the Declaration in advancing their rights, with a specific focus on the right of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. With a view to promoting a better understanding of existing international standards related to indigenous peoples, the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean has developed a comparative review of the Declaration and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169) of ILO.9. The Office also continues to ensure that indigenous peoples’ issues are
integrated in the work of the human rights mechanisms. Briefings on the Declaration were given at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of Special Rapporteurs, Representatives, Independent Experts and Chairpersons of Working Groups of the Human Rights Council in June 2008 and to several of the treaty bodies, such as the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on Migrant Workers. Positive development should be noted regarding the rights of the child. At its fiftieth session, held in January 2009, the Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted General Comment No. 11 on indigenous children and their rights under the Convention, recalling the obligation of State parties under articles 2 and30 of the Convention to promote and protect the human rights of all indigenous children, including specific references to the rights set forth in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
10. A communication strategy for promotion of the Declaration has also been developed within the Office, including products such as a pocket-sized version of the Declaration and a poster in all United Nations languages. A brochure of frequently asked questions for the general reader on the main provisions of the Declaration is also in preparation. In line with the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action resulting from the World Conference against Racism, held in 2001, which acknowledged the challenges faced by indigenous peoples, including racism and racial discrimination, and called upon States to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Office will organize a side event in the margin of the Durban Review Conference to be held in Geneva in April 2009 in order to discuss how the Declaration is used to address various forms of racism that indigenous peoples are facing today.11. The Indigenous Fellowship Programme also makes an important contribution to building up community capacity to defend human rights and is a concrete means for promoting understanding of the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
UNPFA reports: 61. UNFPA is committed to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and continues to support its implementation and dissemination to ensure that it reaches all sectors of society. In that regard, UNFPA offices in Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru and Viet Nam have contributed to disseminating the text, including by supporting its publication and translation into indigenous peoples’ and ethnic minorities’ languages.
62. In China, UNFPA has contributed to the dissemination of many underlying principles of the Declaration by sensitizing central, provincial and local level policymakers on the rights and participation of ethnic minorities and by promoting
the development of rights-based approaches in the areas of gender, reproductive health and population and development.
Final Report of UNPFII Session 7 (2008)
Area of Work
