Criteria for selecting beneficiaries for the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples

It is important to allocate funding in fair and balanced ways based on consistent standards. For this reason, grants from the Voluntary Fund are issued based the following guidance.

According to General Assembly resolution 40/131, the only beneficiaries of assistance from the Fund shall be representatives of indigenous peoples’ organizations and communities:

1. Who are so considered by the Board of Trustees;
2. Who would not, in the opinion of the Board, be able to attend meetings without the assistance provided by the Fund;
3. Who would be able to contribute to a deeper knowledge on these mechanisms and bodies of the problems affecting indigenous peoples and who would secure a broad geographical representation.

In addition, the Secretary-General approved the following criteria upon recommendation by the Board:

• Criteria for the selection of beneficiaries wishing to participate in sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP)
• Criteria for the selection of beneficiaries wishing to participate in sessions of the Human Rights Council, its UPR mechanism and treaty bodies
• Criteria for the selection of beneficiaries wishing to participate in sessions the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights and the relevant meetings on Indigenous Peoples of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)