Co-facilitators of the intergovernmental process on enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ participation in meetings of relevant UN bodies on issues affecting them forwarded the final draft resolution to the UN General Assembly (UNGA). The Assembly will consider the text at a plenary meeting on 31 August 2026.

In a letter dated 19 August 2026, Permanent Representative of Namibia Penda Naanda and Permanent Representative of The Bahamas Stan Smith inform UN Member States that following the conclusion of informal consultations and informal hearings among Member States and Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and representative institutions, the draft resolution titled, ‘Enhancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and representative institutions in meetings of relevant United Nations bodies on issues affecting them,’ was placed under silence procedure, which it successfully passed.

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The draft resolution, to be issued as document A/80/ L.107, decides that the UNGA will continue its consideration of possible further measures, including the adoption of procedural and institutional steps, to enhance Indigenous Peoples’ participation. It requests the UNGA President to appoint two co-facilitators and two advisers from Indigenous Peoples, in consultation with Member States, “no sooner than [at] the eighty-fourth session and no later than the eighty-fifth session.”

By the text, the Assembly requests the UNGA President to organize a workshop on enhanced participation in the margins of the 28th session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) and to prepare a record of the discussions as an input to the UNGA.

The UNGA requests the Secretary-General to compile information from Member States and Indigenous Peoples on existing practices and acknowledgements of Indigenous Peoples and on possible barriers to participation, including language, accessibility, and technological barriers, financial constraints, and procedural challenges before the Assembly’s 83rd session.

The resolution also encourages:

• Governments, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other private and public entities to continue to contribute to the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples;
• The PFII, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the rights of Indigenous Peoples to continue to address Indigenous Peoples’ enhanced participation within the UN on issues affecting them; and
• Further efforts to facilitate Indigenous Peoples’ participation in UN processes, bodies, conferences, summits, and other meetings on issues affecting them.

The UNGA President circulated the draft resolution among Member States by a letter dated 20 August 2026. [Letter from UNGA President on Transmission of Final Draft of Indigenous People]