Eighth Session of the UNPFII and Indigenous Issues

Written by Pasang Yangjee Sherpa

Saturday, 30 May 2009 07:51

New York- The two week long (May 18-29) Eighth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) held at the United Nations Headquarter in New York concluded on May 29.

This session brought together thousands of peoples from all over the world to discuss indigenous issues. Delegates from indigenous organizations, governments, representatives from various organizations, the World Bank and UN agencies were present at the meeting.

Recommendations prepared by the Permanent Forum based on the discussions at the eighth session were adopted at the meeting. Unfortunately, this year, the floor was not open to delegates and indigenous representatives to express their views on the recommendations.

The recommendations of the Permanent Forum on economic and social development, indigenous women and the Second Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and on dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples and other special rapporteurs, and the recommendations of the Permanent Forum on the Arctic were adopted.

Among the several recommendations were increased mainstreaming of indigenous peoples’ issues in the work of United Nations agencies, international financial institutions and other development actors and the amendment and/or repeal portions of the Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) that has banned the coca leaf chewing in the Andean and other indigenous regions of South America and are inconsistent with the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain their health and cultural practices.

Discussions at the 8-UNPFII highlighted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that sets the principles of respect for and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples to self-determination and development, including to free, prior and informed consent. The preamble to the recommendations states that before any investments are made on projects affecting indigenous lands, territories and resources and before such projects are brought into indigenous lands and territories, the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples must be obtained.

Upon the adoption of the recommendations, other members of the Forum gave their concluding remarks and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the Permanent Forum and an indigenous activist from the Cordillera region of the Philippines closed the session.

For the closing ceremony, North American indigenous members offered their prayers followed by a cultural performance by the Nepalese delegates. Nepalese representatives sang the national anthem and Nepali folk song Resam Firiri.

-Pasang Yangjee Sherpa at UN Headquarters in New York.

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