United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (acronym: UNPFII or PFII) is an advisory body within the framework of the United Nations System that reports to the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The forum is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples.

Overview

* The Permanent Forum is a forum for indigenous issues worldwide.
* There are more than 370 million indigenous people in some 70 countries worldwide.
* The first indigenous to be elected to office at a United Nations meeting was Chief Ted Moses of the Grand Council of the Crees in Canada, in 1989.
* "Indigenous person" means native, original, first people and aboriginal.

History

The creation of the Permanent Forum was discussed at the 1993 World Conference in Vienna, Austria. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action [http://www.un-documents.net/ac157-23.htm#II-32] recommended that such a forum should be established within the first United Nations International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (see below). A working group was formed and various other meetings took place that led to the establishment of the permanent forum by the United Nations Economic and Social Council resolution 2000/22 [http://www.un-documents.net/e2000r22.htm] on 28 July 2000.

What, how and where it works

The Forum is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council. 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

Its mandate is to discuss indigenous issues related to social development, culture, environment, education, health and human rights.

The forum is to:

:* 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

There are 16 independent experts appointed for a three-year term. At the end of their current term, they can be re-elected or re-appointed for yet another one.

Of these 16 members, eight are nominated by the member governments and eight directly nominated by indigenous organizations. Those nominated by the governments are elected to office by the Economic and Social Council based on the representation of each regional grouping of states (see below). Those nominated by indigenous organizations are appointed by the President of ECOSOC and represent the seven socio-cultural regions for broad representation of the world’s indigenous peoples.

essions

To date, five sessions have been held:

* First session: May 2002, at UN Headquarters, New York.
* Second session: May 2003, at UN Headquarters, New York; theme was “Indigenous Children and Youth”.
* Third session: May 2004, at UN Headquarters, New York; theme was “Indigenous Women”.
* Fourth session: May 2005, at UN Headquarters, New York; theme was “Millennium Development Goals and Indigenous Peoples with a focus on Goal 1 to Eradicate Poverty and Extreme Hunger, and Goal 2 to ahieve universal primary education”.
* Fifth session: May 2006, at UN Headquarters, New York; theme was “The Millennium Development Goals and indigenous peoples: Re-defining the Millennium Development Goals”.
* Sixth session: May 2007, at UN Headquarters, New York; theme was “Territories, Lands and Natural Resources”.

ecretariat

The Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was established by the General Assembly in 2002. It is based in the New York Headquarters within the Division for Social Policy and Development [http://www.un.org/esa/socdev] of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs [http://www.un.org/esa] . The Secretariat of the Permanent Forum, 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.

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 [http://www.un-documents.net/a48r163.htm] 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.

econd 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, [http://www.un-documents.net/a59r174.htm] and the programme of action was adopted at the 60th session.

Its objectives are:
* Promoting non-discrimination and inclusion
* Full and effective participation in decision-making
* Re-define development policy from a vision of equity
* 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.

Regional groupings

The five regional groupings of states as used by the United Nations are:
* Africa
* Asia
* Eastern Europe
* Latin America and the Caribbean
* Western Europe and other countries

The seven socio-cultural regional groupings are:
* Africa
* Asia
* Central and South America and the Caribbean
* The Arctic
* Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia
* North America
* The Pacific

External links

* [http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/ United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues]
* [http://www.undocuments.net/e2000r22.htm Establishment of a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - ECOSOC Resolution 2000/22]
* [http://www.docip.org/Permanent%20Forum/Statements.html Statements during the 2006 Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues]
* [http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/history.html History of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues]
* [http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/iasg.html Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues] (IASG)

ee also

* Subregion
*Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples