CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

To: UN Member State Delegations at the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, 56^th Session

                                                                                                                        10 October 2001

Dear Sir/Madam;     

We, the undersigned Indigenous peoples and organizations, would like to draw the attention of the General Assembly to questions related to the budget for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Allow us to also draw your attention to the fact that Indigenous peoples worldwide (1) want the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to have a Separate Secretariat; and (2) want the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum to be staffed by qualified Indigenous persons.

Financing of the activities of the Permanent Forum:

            The success of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues depends very much on the financial arrangements for its activities. We hold the view, that it is crucial that the General Assembly, through the Regular Budget of the UN, provide the necessary financial resources for the functioning of the Forum, including the establishment of a separate secretariat. Moreover, we strongly encourage governments to support the functioning of the Permanent Forum through voluntary financial contributions.

Separate Secretariat:

In the preparatory processes leading up to the establishment of the Forum, Indigenous peoples consistently in their various regional declarations strongly affirmed that the Permanent Forum should have its own secretariat.  We strongly recommend that the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum not be attached to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights or any other secretariat of the subsidiary bodies of ECOSOC or any of the Specialized Agencies of the UN.

The Permanent Forum will not only address human rights issues. The ECOSOC resolution which led to the establishment of the Permanent Forum provides that "the Permanent Forum on indigenous Issues shall serve as an advisory body to the Council with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues within the mandate of the Council relating to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights; in so doing the Forum will:

(a)    Provide expert advice and recommendations on indigenous issues to the Council, as well as to programmes, funds and agencies of the United Nations, through the Council;

(b)   Raise awareness and promote the integration and coordination of activities relating to indigenous issues within the United Nations system;

(c)  Prepare and disseminate information on indigenous issues;”

Since human rights is not the only issue to be addressed by the Permanent Forum, attaching the Secretariat to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights would indeed necessarily imply a narrowing of the mandate of the Permanent Forum to human rights issues.

The Permanent Forum is a subsidiary body of ECOSOC.  Every subsidiary body of ECOSOC has its separate secretariat. For example, the Commission on Human Settlements, a Standing Committee of ECOSOC, established through a resolution of ECOSOC has a separate secretariat based in Nairobi.  The Functional Commissions such as the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission on Sustainable Development also have separate secretariats.

            As far as the costs for a separate secretariat are concerned, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, during the 2nd Ad-hoc Working Group on the Establishment of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples in February 2000, stated that "a separate secretariat for the Permanent Forum with 5 staff costs only US $ 1.5 million per annum".

Staffing of the Secretariat:

One of the mandates of the Permanent Forum is to "raise awareness and promote the integration and coordination of activities relating to indigenous issues within the United Nations system."

Indigenous peoples are aware of the UN Secretary General's programmes on "Integrating the human rights of women throughout the United Nations system". Many United Nations agencies also have set successful examples of integration of gender into their programmes and practices, including giving "preference to equally qualified women candidates". The same principle of giving "preference to equally qualified Indigenous candidates" for staffing of the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues would go a long way to "promote the integration and coordination of activities relating to Indigenous issues within the United Nations system".

We are looking forward to the support of the General Assembly for the establishment of a separate secretariat for the Permanent Forum, and staffing of the Secretariat by qualified Indigenous persons, in particular in all key positions.

With kind regards,

Saami Council (Northern Europe)

Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Arctic Circle)

National Congress of American Indians (USA)

Montagnard Foundation, Inc. (USA)

Four Directions Council (North America)

American Indian Law Alliance (North America)

World Sindhi Congress (International)

Indigenous Peoples’ Biodiversity Network (International)

Kechua-Aymara Association for Sustainable Livelihoods (Andes-Peru)

International Indian Treaty Council (North America, South America)

Indigenous World Association (North America)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (Australia)

L’auravetl’an Indigenous Information Center (Russia)

Taungya – International Office (India)

Jumma Peoples Network in Europe (India/Europe)

Cordillera Peoples Alliance (Philippines)

Center for Orang Asli Concerns (Malaysia)

CORE Manipur (India)

Sandy Gauntlett, Associate Researcher, International Research Institute for Maori and

            Indigenous Education, Auckland University (Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Suhas Chakma, Coordinator, Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network (India)

Kuna Youth Movement (Panama)

Council of Equals – Union of Youth of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the

            Far East of Russia (Asia)

Indigenous Environmental Network (North America)

Yat Kitischee Native Ctr – Oannes Pritzker (USA)

Mililani B. Trask, Na Koa Ikaika o Ka Lahui Hawaii (Hawaii)

Francisco Ramírez (coordinador General) and Mirta Pereira (abogada), Coordinadora de

Líderes indígenas del Bajo Chaco (Tierraviva, Paraguay), Asesora Juridica,

Tierraviva (Paraguay)

Mick Dodson (Australia)

Sandy Gauntlett, Associate Researcher, International Research Institute for Maori and

            Indigenous Education, Auckland University (Aotearoa/New Zealand)

Henriette Rasmussen (Greenland)

Miriam Anne Frank, The Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples (Netherlands)

Jens Dahl, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (Denmark)

Johan Bosman, Flemish Support Group for Indigenous Peoples (Belgium)

Theodor Rathgeber, Society for Threatened Peoples (Germany)

Dr. Marcus Colchester, Forest Peoples Programme (England)

Eugenio Poma, Indigenous Program, World Council of Churches (International)

Eva Saínz, ALMÁCIGA (Spain)

Alessandro Michelucci, Documentation Centre on Threatened Peoples (Italy)

Jenneke Arens, Organising Committee Chittagong Hill Tracts Campaign (Netherlands)

Chittagong Hill Tracts International Commission (Denmark)

Bjorn Forde, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, Danish Association for International Co-

operation (Denmark)
Simon Counsell, Rainforest Foundation (UK)

African Indigenous Organisation, OIPA (Africa)

Endorsements received after submission:

Kebager te Ked-Inged (Philippines)

Nepal Indigenous Peoples Development and Information Service Centre, NIPDISC (Nepal)

Hawai'i Institute for Human Rights (Hawai'i)

Metis Nation (Canada)

Metis National Council (Canada)

COICA, Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica:

            AIDESEP (Peru)

            APA (Guyana)

            CIDOB (Bolivia)

            CONFENIAE (Ecuador)

            COIAB (Brasil)

            CONIVE (Venezuela)

            FOAG (Guayana Franc.)

            OIS (Surinam)

            OPIAC (Colombia)