Research Guides: Indigenous Issues: Quick Guide

Indigenous Issues at the United Nations

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Permanent Forum Sessions:

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is a high- level advisory body to the Economic and Social Council. The Forum provides a global platform for expert advice and recommendations on indigenous to the Council. The Forum meets on an annual basis and covers a specific theme in each session.

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.

The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples was established by the General Assembly resolution 49/214 of 23 December 1994. The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed on 9 August every year. The date marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

See: Previous observances

United Nations and Indigenous peoples.

The United Nations Division of Economic and Social Affairs track the history of the indigenous issues and the UN since 1923.

UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

International Year and Decades of the World's Indigenous Peoples.

In resolution 48/163 the UN General Assembly proclaimed 1993 the International Year of the World’s Indigenous People.
The same year, the Assembly proclaimed the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, starting on 10 December 1994 (resolution 48/163).
The Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People began in 2005.

On 13 September 2007 the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted as a resolution (A/RES/61/295) by the General Assembly.

Learn more about the International Years and themes from the UN's Department of Economic Affairs : Indigenous Peoples Page

More information about the Declaration, including its procedural history is available through the Audiovisual Library of International Law.

Audiovisual Library of International Law - United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples

On 22-23 September 2014, the First UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples took place in New York. This was a High-Level Plenary Meeting of the 69th General Assembly.

WCIP outcome document
Outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (A/RES/69/2).
Alta outcome document
Outcome document of the Global Indigenous Preparatory Conference for the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.

Key UN Documents

Additional resources

Indigenous Peoples and the UN
This page by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) provides a short history of the indigenous struggle in the international stage.
ILO Library: Indigenous Peoples
Research guide by the ILO Library with information on issues related to indigenous peoples and work.
World Bank: Indigenous Peoples
Information from the World Bank on indigenous peoples with links to publications, data, and their projects and programmes on the topic.
OAS: Indigenous Peoples
Resources on the indigenous people of the Americas from the OAS (Organization of American States).
IWGA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
International human rights group working for the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide.
Docip - Indigenous peoples' centre for documentation, research and information
Docip is a non-profit organization supporting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly within the framework of international institutions. Their website provides access to documents from various bodies on issues related to indigenous peoples.
Indigenous Peoples Glossary
This glossary; developed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) staff provides a collection of terminology on Indigenous Peoples. It contains a multilingual listing of around 140 relevant terms and definitions to harmonize indigenous vocabulary in French, English and Spanish.
UNESCO atlas of languages in danger
The online edition of the Atlas it offers a searchable interface and additional information on the listed endangered languages.
UNESCO and Indigenous Peoples
UNESCO is dedicated to the 2030 Agenda commitment to ‘Leave no one behind by highlighting the rights and priorities the of indigenous peoples.
UN DESA Indigenous peoples resource page
This website provides a one-stop place to learn about the engagement of the Indigenous peoples and the UN.

More information

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Disclaimer

This guide is intended to provide delegates and UN Secretariat Staff with selected content from both UN and non-UN sources. It references third-party web sites, books and articles. It does not imply the endorsement of the content by the United Nations.

Access to electronic Resources

Books and articles can be accessed online within the UN Headquarters. Articles can be delivered to permanent mission by e-mail upon request.

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UN Reports & Publications

State of the World's Indigenous Peoples : Rights to Lands, Territories and Resources
ISBN: 9789211304183
Date: 2021
This publication offers a wide-ranging perspective on indigenous peoples' rights to lands, territories and resources, examining legislation and agreements at the national and international level, identifying successful practices and continued obstacles, and suggesting ways forward.
State of the World's Indigenous Peoples : implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Date: 2019
On 13 September 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This publication looks back at ten-plus years of the Declaration's existence.
State of the World's Indigenous Peoples
Date: 2018
This third edition of the State of the World's Indigenous Peoples (SOWIP) provides a broad overview of the current achievements and challenges facing indigenous peoples within the education sector.
State of the World's Indigenous Peoples: 2nd volume: Health / UN DESA
Date: 2016
The 2nd volume of the State of the World's Indigenous Peoples examines the major challenges for indigenous peoples to obtain adequate access to and utilization of quality health care services. It provides an important background to many of the health issues that indigenous peoples are currently facing.
State of the World's Indigenous Peoples: 1st volume / UN DESA
Date: 2009
This report discusses many of the issues addressed by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Chapters on poverty and well-being, culture, environment, contemporary education, health, human rights, and emerging issues.
Breaking the Silence on Violence against Indigenous Girls, Adolescents and Young Women / UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, ILO, OSRSG/VAC
Date: 2013
A collaborative study aiming to provide a deeper understanding of the magnitude, nature and context of violence experienced specifically by indigenous girls, adolescents and young women.

Books

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A commentary
Call Number: UNX.572.9 U541
Date: 2018
This commentary assesses the practice of relevant regional and international bodies in enforcing the rights of indigenous peoples, providing an understanding of the practical application of the Declaration's principles
Indigenous Peoples and Water Justice in a Globalizing World
Date: 2018
This book addressed challenges faced by Indigenous peoples in access to water and advocates for governance of water resources available to their communities.
Global politics and its violent care for indigeneity : sequels to colonialism
Date: 2018
This book examinis the inclusion of indigenous peoples in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Arctic Council, and offers a pioneering account of how international politics has tightened its grip on indigeneity.
Indigenous Peoples As Subjects of International Law
Call Number: LSA 572.9 I39
Date: 2018
This volume pursues a cross-disciplinary analysis of the international legal exclusion of Indigenous Peoples, and of its relationship to global injustice.
Global Indigenous Politics / Lightfoot
Date: 2016
This book examines how indigenous peoples' rights and indigenous rights movements represent an important and often overlooked shift in international politics.
Handbook of Indigenous Peoples' Rights / Short & Lennox
Date: 2016
This handbook gives an interdisciplinary overview of indigenous peoples' rights, by examining legal, philosophical, sociological and political issues, and addressing a wide range of themes at the centre of debates on the rights of indigenous peoples.
Indigenous Peoples' Status in the International Legal System / Åhrén
Date: 2016
The book surveys how indigenous peoples have emerged as international legal subjects and possessors of sovereign and private rights over territories by looking at the rights indigenous peoples and communities hold under the contemporary indigenous rights discourse.
Aboriginal Peoples, Colonialism and International Law / Irene Watson
Date: 2014
This work is the first to assess the legality and impact of colonisation from the viewpoint of Aboriginal law, rather than from that of the dominant Western legal tradition.
Indigenous Rights in the Age of the UN Declaration / Trask & Pulitano
Date: 2012
This book examins the role played by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in advancing indigenous peoples' self-determination.
Reflections on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples / Allen & Xanthaki
Date: 2011
The adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was acclaimed as a success for the UN system given the extent to which it consolidates and develops the international corpus of indigenous rights.

Search the Library catalog for peer-reviewed articles on Indigenous people.

Spotlight: 2019 - The International Year of Indigenous Languages

The International Year of Indigenous Languages was launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 2016 by resolution (A/RES/71/178). The same year, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues expressed concern that 40 per cent of the world’s estimated 6,700 languages, majority of which were indigenous were in danger of disappearing . The International Year aims to foster awareness and strive to preserve, support and promote indigenous languages.

More information is provided by UNESCO.