Appointment of two indigenous experts to follow up on the World Conference
The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr Mogens Lykketoft, made a major decision to move forward with implementing the WCIP Outcome Document by appointing Claire Charters (Maori from New Zealand) and Prof. James Anaya (former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples) alongside the permanent representatives of the Governments of Finland and Ghana to assist him in the consultations on the WCIP2014 follow-up regarding the participatory status of indigenous peoples at the United Nations.
President of the UN GA, Mogens Lykketoft, moves forward in the implementation of indigenous peoples’ right to participate in UN decision making processes.
Taking into account the request expressed by the UNGA 3rd Committee and the demand from indigenous peoples to fully participate on an equal footing with States in UN decision making processes, the President of the General Assembly has now appointed Dr. Claire Charters (Maori from New Zealand) and Prof. James Anaya (former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples) alongside the permanent representatives of the Governments of Finland and Ghana to assist him in the consultations on the WCIP2014 follow-up regarding the participatory status of indigenous peoples at the United Nations.
The action taken by the President of the UN General Assembly by appointing two indigenous experts on an equal footing with two Governmental representative is an important step forward in the implementation of the UN commitment to advance in the implementation of WCIP commitments regarding indigenous peoples’ right to fully participate as right holders in UN decision-making processes.
The President of the UN General Assembly has made an excellent choice based on the expertise, the experience and the talent of two internationally recognized indigenous experts, Dr. Claire Charters and Prof. James Anaya. IWGIA has the pleasure to congratulate them on their assignment and we wish them every success in their next endeavours.
Background:
In December 2015, the UNGA 3rd Committee adopted by consensus the report including recommendations regarding indigenous peoples’ rights. See the full report of the Third Committee on the Rights of indigenous peoples from December 2015 ( A/70/486)
In this report, the 3rd Committee recalling the commitment expressed in the Outcome Document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, to continue the consideration of ways to enable the participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives and institutions in meetings of relevant United Nations bodies on issues affecting them, requests the current President of the General Assembly (Mogens Lykketoft) to conduct, within existing resources, timely, inclusive, representative and transparent consultations with Member States, indigenous peoples’ representatives and institutions from all regions of the world, and existing relevant mechanisms of the United Nations, on the possible measures necessary, including procedural and institutional steps and selection criteria, to enable the participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives and institutions in meetings of relevant United Nations bodies on issues affecting them.
In addition the Committee requests the President to prepare a compilation of the views presented during the consultations, including good practices within the United Nations regarding indigenous peoples’ participation, which will form the basis of a draft text to be finalized and adopted by the General Assembly during the seventy-first session (September 2016 –September 2017).
