Expert Group Meeting on the theme Sustainable development in territories of indigenous peoples (Articles 4 and 23 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples)
23-25 January 2018
United Naitions Headquarters, New York
Background:
Each year the UNDESA/DSPD/SPFII organizes an international expert group meeting (EGM) on a theme that is proposed by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and endorsed by the Economic and Social Council. EGMs are frequently organized by the UN to bring together external expertise to explore state-of-the-art research and analysis, identify good practices and lessons learned and develop independent policy recommendations on a particular theme. An EGM is a working meeting and brings together a limited number of individual experts from a variety of fields, including academia, government, civil society and United Nations or other regional and international bodies.
The United Nations invites the experts to submit papers on a specific theme, to present the paper at the meeting and to discuss the issue with other invited experts. Based on these papers and discussions, the United Nations prepares a report of the meeting that is intended to enrich the deliberations of the Permanent Forum at its next session as well as to provide valuable information, analysis and policy recommendations to the UN system and Member States.
Sustainable development in territories of indigenous peoples
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development establishes 17 goals to transform our world. The development of indigenous peoples must be successfully embodied in the 2030 Agenda. “Leaving no one behind” frames sustainable development in relations to all the 2030 goals, including areas such as poverty, education, economic growth, etc.
The Declaration makes it clear that indigenous peoples have the right to practice, manifest, protect and develop their own cultural, social, religious and educational development. Art. 23 specifically states that “IPs have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for exercising their right to development.” The territorial framework for the operationalisation of the Declarations may be the community, the region or the state depending on demographic facts, political traditions, etc, and aspirations of the peoples. Keeping in mind article 4 of the Declaration that “indigenous peoples have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs”, the Expert Meeting will focus on the relationships between types of autonomy and the opportunity for indigenous peoples in a sustainable way to develop health, housing, and other economic and social programmes.
The huge investments ploughed into acquiring land for commercial and industrial purposes are one of the major threats faced by indigenous peoples in today’s world. This current global land rush and the intensification of the exploitation of natural resources are strongly pushing into indigenous peoples’ lands and territories and rapidly dispossessing them of their primary source of livelihood. Violent conflicts directly related to land issues are increasing and as a result indigenous peoples are increasingly suffering systematic human rights violations, internal displacement, as well as loss of their cultural identity, destruction of their livelihoods, poverty, permanent environmental damage, pollution and loss of biodiversity in their traditional lands and territories.
Proposed Agenda:
1. Introduction: Sustainable Development in the territories of indigenous peoples
2. Regional cases of autonomy in the territories of indigenous peoples
2. The Challenge from land grabbing and natural resource extraction and large scale development projects
4. Indigenous visions for sustainable development
5. The United Nations System and Article 4 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
6. Analysis and policy recommendations