22 December 2016: The advisers for the UN General Assembly (UNGA) consultation process on the participation of indigenous peoples in UN meetings have issued an updated version of their elements paper. The paper will serve as a basis for discussion at the next consultations, convening from 30 January-1 February 2017, in New York, US.

By Resolution 70/232, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) requested the UNGA President to conduct consultations with Member States, Indigenous peoples’ representatives and institutions, and existing UN relevant mechanisms, on the possible measures necessary to enable their participation in meetings of relevant UN bodies on issues affecting them. The resolution also requested the UNGA President to prepare a compilation of the views presented during the consultations, including good practices within the UN regarding Indigenous peoples’ participation, which would form the basis for a draft text to be finalized and adopted by the UNGA during its 71st session. The compilation was circulated by the UNGA President on 25 July 2016 and was discussed from 14-15 December 2016, during the first informal consultation in a series of four.

The updated elements paper underlines that granting consultative status for Indigenous peoples’ representative institutions shall not undermine the intergovernmental nature of the UN or UNGA.

The updated elements paper reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, as set out in the UN Charter as well as in article 46 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), as well as the fact that, in accordance with the UN Charter, the UNGA shall consist of all the UN Members. The paper invites all UN bodies, including the Human Rights Council (HRC) and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and their subsidiary bodies, UN programmes, funds and specialized agencies, to enhance the participation of Indigenous peoples’ representative institutions on issues affecting them. It also underlines that the granting of consultative status for Indigenous peoples’ representative institutions with the UNGA shall not undermine the intergovernmental nature of the UN or UNGA.

The text notes that the distinct modalities of participation of Indigenous representative institutions with consultative status do not affect the established practice by which other entities, such as NGOs with consultative status in ECOSOC, participate in UN meetings, or by which Indigenous peoples, organizations and individuals participate in sessions of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII).

On participation modalities, the paper notes that the modalities of participation in the deliberations in the UNGA’s Third Committee (Social and Humanitarian) under the agenda item on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should be as broad as possible, in addition to the right to speak and providing written information, to ensure maximum interactivity with Member States and UN mechanisms participating in these deliberations.

On establishing a new mechanism to select the Indigenous peoples’ representative institutions that will have consultative status with UNGA, the updated elements paper provides several alternative options, as there was little consensus on the matter during the first informal consultations. On the selection criteria, the text notes that self-identification should be an essential factor, while state recognition should be a significant but not a determinative factor. It adds that if an Indigenous representative institution is recognized by the state, the selection processes might be expedited.

Following the three-day informal consultations in January and February, the third and fourth meetings in the series will take place from 27-28 February 2017 and during the PFII, which convenes from 24 April-5 May 2017. [Updated Elements Paper] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on the First Consultations] [Consultation Process Webpage]