8 July 2014: The President of the UN General Assembly has released a ‘zero draft’ resolution as a basis for informal discussions ahead of the forthcoming World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) on 22 September 2014. The draft has been compiled from submissions made by Member States and indigenous peoples.

The draft resolution, which will serve as an outcome document of the WCIP, recommends measures to fully implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) through translating its provisions into national laws, preparing implementation plans, and acknowledging the value of indigenous peoples’ justice mechanisms in dispute resolution. The draft resolution commits to dialogue with indigenous peoples’ justice institutions with a view to improving indigenous peoples’ access to justice, and to address all forms of violence against indigenous women, children and youth, especially sexual and domestic violence, trafficking, and violence in relation to extractive industries. Other areas of focus include: poverty eradication; the right to communication; the inter-culturality of health and education; occupations, livelihoods and entrepreneurship; data disaggregation and indicators; establishment of national level inter-agency support groups; disability; and strengthening human rights protection mechanisms.

The draft resolution commits Member States to giving due consideration to the rights of indigenous peoples in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda. It recognizes indigenous peoples’ experience and knowledge with respect to securing sustainable development, through hunting, gathering, pastoralism, small-scale agriculture and farming. It calls upon all actors to share their experiences in the formulation of the post-2015 development framework, and it invites the Secretary-General to consider appointing a High Representative for Indigenous Peoples to promote awareness of the above measures.

Other calls contained in the draft include proclaiming the Third International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples from 1 January 2015; and requesting the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to make indigenous peoples the focus of a Human Development Report no later than 2018.

Informal consultations on the zero draft will take place on 16 July and 18 August 2014, after which the negotiations will enter an intergovernmental phase to deliver a draft resolution for the consideration of the WCIP. The WCIP is organized as a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly. [Zero draft text] [WCIP Website]