Welcome

"In the Spirit of Self Determination of the Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth,
equal to all other Peoples..."


United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

The Message of the Hopi:
Thomas Banyacya and the House of Mica

"Self Determination: It's not about what we want, it's what we WILL"

 
UNPFII 14th Session May 20-April 1, 2015

LIVE UN WEBCAM

Provisional Agenda:

Fourteenth Session of the Permanent Forum

The fourteenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will be held in UN Headquarters, New York from 20 April to 1 May 2015.

Provisional Agenda (with Concept Notes to guide the discussions)

1. Election of officers
    
2. Adoption of the agenda and organization of work.
    
3. Follow-up on the recommendations of the Permanent Forum:
   1. Outcome of the high-level plenary meeting also known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples; (Concept Note EN | ES | FR | RU)
   2. Post-2015 development agenda; (Concept Note EN | ES | FR | RU)
   3. Youth, self-harm and suicide (Concept Note EN | ES | FR | RU)
       
4. Half-day discussion on the Pacific region. (Concept Note EN | ES | FR | RU)
    
5. Half-day discussion on the expert group meeting on the theme “Dialogue on an optional protocol to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. (Report of the meeting AR | EN | ES | FR | RU | ZH) 
    
6. Comprehensive dialogue with United Nations agencies and funds: Post-2015 Development Agenda, with special focus on Food, Hunger and Disease (Concept Note EN | ES | FR | RU)
    
7. Human rights with focus on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: (Concept Note EN | ES | FR | RU) 
   1. Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
   2. Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
       
8. Future work of the Permanent Forum, including issues of the Economic and Social Council and emerging issues. (Concept Note on Methods of Work of the Forum EN | ES | FR | RU)
    
9. Draft agenda for the fifteenth session of the Permanent Forum.
    
10. Adoption of the report of the Permanent Forum on its fourteenth session.

Proposed Organization of Work by day:

AR | EN | ES | FR | RU | ZH

Message from the Expert Members of the Forum to Participants

Dear Participants,

Please draw your attention to the fact that this year's Forum session is primarily focused on the Reform of our Methods of Work.  

In relation to our efforts to make the annual sessions more constructive and focused, we have prepared the following Concept Notes to draw your attention to specific topics and key questions related to four areas of focus for the Fourteenth Session.

We are especially keen to gain your Feedback & Ideas for Reform of the PFII.  We respectfully request that you do not approach the Fourteenth Session in the same way that you may have engaged in previous sessions.  We are genuinely trying to make the PFII a more effective mechanism within the UN system and request that you do not draft lengthy interventions for each item on the agenda and do your utmost on behalf of your respective constituency to remain focused on how to improve our overall work, both within and outside of the UN. 

Therefore, please turn your thoughts and minds to two matters:

1. Feedback on how the Forum currently functions and operates;

2. Ideas for reform of Forum annual sessions; and

3. Constructive and substantive responses to the questions posed in the Concept Notes shown herein.

All interventions should be framed in light of the questions and ideas laid out in the following Concept Notes on the opening page of the PFII.

As you will see in the Program of Work for the Fourteenth Session, we have dedicated a majority of the morning and afternoon sessions to the topic of future work.  We look forward to your innovative and creative ideas and proposals for reform.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

EXPERT MEMBERS OF THE PERMANENT FORUM ON INDIGENOUS ISSUES

Special event
The Office of the Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs will hold an Interactive Dialogue on the follow-up to the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples on 22 April 2015, in Conference Room 4 from 3pm to 4.30pm. The meeting will be chaired by Mr. Lenni Montiel, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Member States, indigenous peoples, representatives of United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, non-governmental organizations in consultative status and the academia attending the 14th session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues are invited to attend the dialogue.
Participants are encouraged to provide inputs on the following:

-Development of a system-wide action plan “to ensure a coherent approach to achieving the ends of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”.
-Review of the mandates of existing UN mechanisms, in particular the mandate of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, with a view to modifying and improving them to more effectively promote respect for the Declaration.

-Ways to enable the participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives and institutions in UN meetings relevant to them.

Media Backgrounders/Factsheets:

• Indigenous Peoples and Post-2015 Development Agenda,
  with focus on Hunger and Disease (EN | ES | FR)
• Youth, Self-harm and Suicide (EN | ES | FR)
• The Pacific Region (EN | ES | FR)
• Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (EN | ES | FR)

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NAHUACALLI

Embassy of Indigenous Peoples

www.nahuacalli.org