United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Functions and operation

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

The mandate of the Forum is to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the 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

The forum is composed of 16 independent experts, functioning in their personal capacity, who are appointed to three-year terms. At the end of their term, they can be re-elected or re-appointed for one additional term.

Of these 16 members, eight are nominated by the member governments and eight directly nominated by indigenous organizations. Those nominated by the governments are then elected to office by the Economic and Social Council based on the five regional groupings of the United Nations. Whereas those nominated by indigenous organisations are appointed by the President of the Economic and Social Council and represent the seven socio-cultural regions for broad representation of the world's indigenous peoples.

Members of the Permanent Forum, January 2020 to December 2022

Sessions

To date, eighteen sessions have been held, all at UN Headquarters, New York:

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the PFII was established by the General Assembly in 2002 with Resolution 57/191. It is based in the New York within the Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) of the (DESA). The Secretariat, 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.

International Decade of the World's Indigenous People

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 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.

Second 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, 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 social equality
• 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.

Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032)

On 28 February 2020, 500 participants of a high-level assembly adopted the "Los Pinos Declaration" which concentrates on the indigenous language users' human rights.

Regional groupings

To ensure diversity, members are elected from different regions depending on who nominated them:

• The United Nations Regional Groups are used for the eight members nominated by governments and elected by the Economic and Social Council:
  • African Group
  • Asia-Pacific Group
  • Eastern Europe Group
  • Latin America and the Caribbean Group
  • Western Europe and Other States Group
• The seven socio-cultural regions are used for the eight nominated by indigenous organisations and appointed by the President of the Economic and Social Council:
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Central and South America and the Caribbean
  • The Arctic
  • Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia
  • North America
  • The Pacific
    • Note: Of the eight members nominated by indigenous organizations one must come from each of the seven regions, with one additional rotating seat among the first three first listed above.