Category Archives: Theme/Human rights

Concluding Session, Indigenous Issues Permanent Forum Approves Recommendations on Regional Dialogues, Transitional Justice Meeting, 2023 Session Date

6 May

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues closed its twenty-first session today, approving a raft of recommendations related to its theme — “Indigenous peoples, business, autonomy and the human rights principles of due diligence including free, prior and informed consent” — as well as three draft decisions to be sent to the Economic and Social Council for formal adoption.

Indigenous Speakers Denounce Persistent Suppression of Culture, Identities, Rights by Governments, Companies, as Permanent Forum Continues Session

29 Apr

Speakers in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today denounced the persistent side-lining of their languages, cultures, traditions and identities, as they shed light on the myriad ways their rights are violated by Governments, companies or by ineffective policies that do not protect their communities.

Indigenous Peoples Representatives Must Be Included in Work of United Nations Bodies, Policy-Making Initiatives, Speakers Tell Permanent Forum

28 Apr

Speakers in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today pressed United Nations bodies across the system to expand resources and opportunities for indigenous representatives so that they may participate in the Organization’s work, with many calling out practices that prevent their voices from being heard and advocating for a greater focus by the Forum on breaking down barriers.

Indigenous Peoples Routinely Exposed to Toxic Substances, Their Lands, Waters Poisoned by Reckless Companies, Special Rapporteur Tells Permanent Forum

27 Apr

Indigenous peoples are routinely exposed to highly toxic substances left behind by reckless companies that poison their lands and waters with cyanide, mercury, lead and cadmium, the Special Rapporteur on the issue told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, as participants engaged with three United Nations experts on ways to uphold their basic human rights on the international stage.

Indigenous People’s Territories, Resources Still Being Seized, Exploited, Despite International Standards Guaranteeing Their Rights, Speakers Tell Permanent Forum

26 Apr

While international standards guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples to self-determination, territories and resources, these fundamental freedoms are trampled upon in the name of mining, logging, oil, gas exploration and even conservation deemed essential to national development, speakers told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, laying out recommendations for transnational businesses to respect their traditional knowledge and inherent dignity.

Extraction Operations on Indigenous People’s Land without Consent Cause Irreparable Harm, Speakers Stress, as Permanent Forum Begins Session

25 Apr

The explosive growth of extractive operations around the world often plays out on indigenous people’s lands without their consent, causing irreparable harm to their livelihoods, cultures, languages and lives, speakers told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, as it opened its 2022 session amid calls to respect their free, prior and informed consent on the existential decisions uprooting their communities.

Permanent Forum’s Twenty-First Session to Focus on Equal Treatment of Indigenous Peoples in Commercial Operations, 25 April-6 May

22 Apr

Following two consecutive years of virtual sessions, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will take place this year in a hybrid format, open to in-person and online participation.  Running from 25 April to 6 May 2022, the twenty-first session of the Permanent Forum will focus on indigenous peoples, business, autonomy and the human rights principles of due diligence, including free, prior and informed consent.

Deputy Secretary-General Stresses Need for Collective Efforts to ‘Breathe Life’ into Geneva Convention, in Message Marking Commemoration of Genocide Victims

7 Apr

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to the United Nations Columbia event to highlight the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, in New York today: