Background

Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms Indigenous Peoples' right to participate in decision-making in matters that affect their rights through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures and to maintain and develop their own Indigenous decision-making institutions. Article 41 calls on the organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system to establish ways and means of ensuring participation of Indigenous Peoples on issues affecting them. Ten years ago, in the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, Member States decided to consider ways to enable the participation of Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and institutions in meetings of relevant United Nations bodies on issues affecting them.

Pursuant to Human Rights Council Human Rights Council resolution 54/12, paragraph 15, the Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a stocktaking report, taking into account previous stocktaking exercises included in the reports thereon of the Secretary-General of 2012 and 2020 and in the note by the President of the General Assembly in 2016, compiling existing procedures on the participation of Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations and highlighting existing gaps and good practices, and to present the report to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-seventh session.

Objectives and types of input/comments sought.

The report’s objective is to compile existing procedures on the participation of Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations and highlight existing gaps and good practices.

In particular, OHCHR would appreciate receiving information covering the following issues and in the following order:

Existing procedures

1. What are the current venues for Indigenous Peoples’ participation in United Nations entities? In what meetings can Indigenous Peoples officially participate? Do they participate in meetings at the national or international levels? If so, where?
2. What are the modalities of Indigenous Peoples’ participation? How can they participate? What can they do during the meetings? How can they influence the outcomes of the meetings? Do they participate online or in person? How does your entity guarantee the meaningful, inclusive and safe participation of Indigenous Peoples?
3. What participation criteria do United Nations entities apply to accredit Indigenous Peoples’ participants? Do Indigenous Peoples participate as organizations? Can Indigenous Peoples’ representative institutions participate as such? Do they participate as individuals or independent experts? How does your entity guarantee the participation of Indigenous women, youth and persons with disabilities?
4. What are the selection criteria? What criteria do United Nations’ entities use to select Indigenous Peoples to participate in the meetings?

Good practices

1. Since when have Indigenous Peoples participated in United Nations’ entities meetings? How has their participation evolved?
2. Please briefly describe any good practices within United Nations’ entities that should be considered for this report.
3. Do United Nations’ entities have an Indigenous advisory group or similar? If so, what are its functions?
4. What success factors could be highlighted from United Nations’ entities experience with Indigenous Peoples’ participation?

Existing gaps

1. What have been the main challenges to Indigenous Peoples’ participation in/engagement with United Nations’ entities?
2. What action has been taken by United Nations’ entities to address these gaps?

How the inputs will be used

A report will be presented to the Human Rights Council during its fifty-seventh session taking place from 9 September 2024 to 9 October 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights hereby requests contributions from United Nations entities, Indigenous Peoples, States, National Human Rights Institutions, Academics, and other Stakeholders for this report. Please note whether the submission is confidential and should not be shared publicly.

Submission- when and how?

Submissions in WORD format of maximum 700 words should be sent by email to requesens@un.org no later than 10 May 2024, in English, Spanish or French. Please ensure that submissions focus on the specific questions raised above.