AFRICAN GROUP
STATEMENT ON THE INFORMAL
CONSULTATION ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE HIGH LEVEL PLENARY MEETING
OF THE SIXTY-NINTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY, TO BE KNOWN AS THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE:
DELIVERED BY: H.E. MARJON V.KAMARA, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC
OF LIBERIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
Mr.
President,
On behalf of the African Group which I represent for the month,
I wish to thank you immensely for the efforts
you have personally made in convening
this informal dialogue
on the "organization of high-level plenary meeting of the sixty ninth session
of the General Assembly, to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous
People". This is a recognition of the importance your presidency attaches
to ameliorating the grave plight of the estimated
370 million indigenous people the world over.
We recall Mr. President, that the General Assembly in 2004, proclaimed the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (2005-2014) . That decade is almost past but the conditions of indigenous people remain grim, severe and staid. Indigenous people continue to face threats as their social, cultural, economic
and political distinctiveness are eroded. This therefore behooves us to begin critical reflection
and dialogue on how to surmount the challenges
to achieving the decade.
Mr. President,
The African Group supports
the idea of consulting all stakeholders including
civil society, nongovernmental organizations, academia, national
human rights institutions and parliamentarians, as a crucial
exercise in sharing
views on the contents of the Conference's Outcome document and their participation in the conference
proceedings. However, Africa
is
constrained to withhold its participation in this current deliberation due to its lingering
concerns about the framework.
As you may recall Mr. President, prior to this meeting, the African Group had raised with you specific
concerns about the need to safeguard the sanctity of the inter-governmental character of the process. The Group noted that regrettably, the framework you proposed did not take cognizance of this
very critical principle.
It is our concern
that the framework
under which this consultation is taking place could set an unhealthy
precedent that could unwittingly affect the very essence of the inter-governmental negotiation process as it has evolved thus far.
I THANK
YOU
