UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues UNPFII (part 1/3)

An Introduction

From the 19^th - 30^th April 2010, I’m attending the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues being held at UN Headquarters in New York. The Forum is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council with a mandate to discuss “indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights". It is the primary mechanism through which the voices of the world’s indigenous peoples are heard at the UN. I’d like to share with you some thought about my learning process, my experience and the concepts I’m encountering during this set of meetings…in a three part series of short pieces.

Ban Ki-moon on opening panel

Background

In September 2007, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the General Assembly supported by an overwhelming majority of Member States. Despite being non-binding, the declaration is important because it "sets out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues" more . . .

The adoption of the Declaration represented a significant step forward because it established standards that could be used to eliminate human rights violations, assist in combating the marginalization and discrimination of the approximately 370 million indigenous people around the world. Initially, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA voted against the Declaration, considering it incompatible with national laws. In 2009, Australia reversed its decision and endorsed the Declaration. Last week, at the opening ceremony of the Forum, New Zealand announced that it had decided to endorse the Declaration, in so far as it didn’t contravene national laws. This decision was welcomed by the approximately 2000 participants at the Forum. This year’s meetings were opened by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (pictured above on the opening panel) who reminded us that "Indigenous cultures, languages and ways of life are under constant threat from climate change, armed conflict, lack of educational opportunities and discrimination.”

This year’s theme--“Development with Culture and Identity” — acknowledges that biodiversity is being lost due to numerous factors, including unsustainable development and cultural assimilation.

In the following two blog postings , I’ll share my reflections about my experiences at the Forum and explore some  key themes from my personal perspective.