The right to
self-determination was not included in the historical Universal
Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, but was included in the first
article of the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and
the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966. By recognising
people's right to self-determination the foundation was laid for a
future discussion of indigenous peoples' right to self-determination.
In
1970 the United Nations agreed to investigate the violations against
indigenous peoples and shortly after to carry out The Study of the
Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations. This resulted
in the UN opening its doors to a large number of indigenous
representatives from around the world.
In
1982 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights established
The Working Group on Indigenous Populations as a forum that could
listen to indigenous peoples' concerns and work for the rights of
indigenous peoples. The group meets one week annually in Geneva in
July.
1993
was marked as International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples. For
the first time in UN history indigenous leaders spoke from the podium
in the General Assembly. The goal for the year was to strengthen
international cooperation to solve the problems which indigenous people
encountered in human rights, environment, development, education and
health. The theme for the year was: "Indigenous Peoples: A New
Partnership". The overall goal for the year was to develop a new and
equitable relationship between the international community, states and
indigenous peoples based on the participation of indigenous peoples in
the planning, implementation and evaluation of projects related to
their living conditions and future.
Then
followed The First International Decade of the World's Indigenous
People (1995 - 2004) and the second decade (2005-2014). The objective
of the decades is to strengthen indigenous peoples' voice in the
international community, and a primary objective was the establishment
of The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, an advisory body under the
UN Economic and Social Council, working exclusively with issues
relating to indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum held their first
meeting in May 2002.
UN
General Assembly has decided to celebrate The International Day of the
World's Indigenous People on 9 August every year during The
International Decade of Indigenous People.
On
September 13, 2007 the UN General Assembly adopted The UN Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The declaration builds on the
fundamental principle of peoples right to self-determination,
emphasizing the right to develop an internal self-government. The
declaration will be important in the future work to ensure the human
rights of indigenous people and their survival through respect for
their culture, languages and lifestyles.
FE/11-06-2008
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