Statement by the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on World Heritage (IIPFWH)

Written on 18 July 2025. Posted in UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention

Statement by the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on World Heritage (IIPFWH)
Delivered at the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee (47 COM) in Paris, France | 6–16 July 2025 on Tuesday 8 July.

Agenda Item 5A – Report of the World Heritage Centre

In the statemente, the IIPFWH calls on UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee to:

• Ensure Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) becomes standard practice in nominations, governance, and monitoring
• Revise the Operational Guidelines to reflect Indigenous Peoples’ rights and participation
• Fully implement the UNESCO Policy on Engaging with Indigenous Peoples and the World Heritage Sustainable Development Policy
• Align the Convention’s implementation with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

The statement also announces the formal submission of the Geneva Outcome Document, a comprehensive set of recommendations from the International Expert Workshop on Recognizing and Respecting Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Values in World Heritage Sites, held in January 2024.

The Outcome Document reflects Indigenous perspectives, cultural heritage priorities, and rights-based approaches, and was officially approved by the Forum. The IIPFWH has requested that the World Heritage Centre publish the document on the UNESCO website.

Learn more: https://iipfwh.org/international-expert-workshop-on-recognizing-and-respecting-indigenous-peoples-heritage-values-in-world-heritage-sites/

Full IIPFWH Statement:

47 COM, Paris, 06-16 July 2025

Statement of the IIPFWH on item 5A (Report of the World Heritage Center)

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson,

I am speaking on behalf of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on World Heritage which is a self-governed Indigenous-led platform dedicated to achieving full respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights within the World Heritage Convention’s processes. We welcome the positive developments related to the engagement of Indigenous Peoples in the work of the Convention as reported by the World Heritage Centre and the Centre’s emphasis on the need for a consistent human rights-based approach. As underlined in the Secretariat’s report, capacity-building, benefit-sharing and free, prior and informed consent must become standard practice in nomination processes, governance structures and monitoring mechanisms.

Free, Prior and Informed Consent is indeed a fundamental right essential to guarantee Indigenous Peoples a central voice in the management of World Heritage sites.

We repeat earlier recommendations to operationalize our effective participation and guaranteeing the respect of our internationally recognized rights as Indigenous Peoples through key revisions of the Operational Guidelines. Further revisions of the Operational Guidelines are crucially needed for the effective implementation of the UNESCO Policy on Engaging with Indigenous Peoples, the World Heritage Sustainable Development Policy, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which requires UN agencies to contribute to its full realization.

In this regard we draw attention to the Outcome Document of the International Expert Workshop on Recognizing and Respecting Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Values in World Heritage Sites held in January 2024 in Geneva. which outlines Indigenous Peoples’ priorities, concerns, vision, and recommendations regarding the implementation of the Convention based on a comprehensive assessment. In Decision 46 COM 7 the World Heritage Committee invited the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on World Heritage to make the Outcome Document available at the earliest opportunity. We would hereby like to inform you that the Outcome Document has been approved by the Forum and has been submitted to the World Heritage Centre. We are posting it on the Forum’s website and kindly request the World Heritage Centre to make it available on the UNESCO website.

We look forward to the deliberations of this week and hope to make strong and constructive contributions where we can.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.

Tags: Global governance