CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

 25 October 2001

Belgian Presidency of the European Union

823 United Nations Plaza, 4^th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Fax: (212) 681-7618

Attn: Michel Tilemans

            On behalf of the organizations and individuals whose names appear below, we urgently appeal to you and the European Union for strong leadership on the issue of the Permanent Forum for Indigenous peoples during the present session of the General Assembly.  If the Permanent Forum is to achieve anything useful, once it begins to meet annually in May 2002, it is necessary to begin to make adequate financial arrangements for its activities now.  We therefore ask the European Union, in its capacity as a major donor bloc, to:

(1)               propose formally the establishment of an independent secretariat unit for the Permanent Forum;

(2)               request that sufficient funds be made available from the UN’s regular budget, for a minimum of three professional officers with appropriate expertise (who should be Indigenous persons); and

(3)               offer to supplement any allocation of resources from the regular budget with voluntary contributions, on condition that the Forum secretariat is truly independent and professionally competent.

            Indigenous Peoples worldwide are naturally concerned that the Permanent Forum be adequately financed and staffed to fulfill its original purpose, which was to serve as a high-level policy coordinating body for all United Nations activities affecting Indigenous Peoples.  Placing the Forum at the level of ECOSOC reflected consensus that the Forum extend beyond human rights to the entire social and economic field, including United Nations operational activities for development.

            These purposes cannot be fulfilled if the Forum is simply added to the work of the existing staff of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (with essentially only one professional officer assigned to Indigenous issues).  A new office with broader expertise is needed - one that establishes and maintains liaison year-round with Indigenous peoples, and with UN specialized agencies, operational bodies, and both donor Governments and the international financial institutions that have considerable impacts on the lives of Indigenous Peoples.  The Forum secretariat must be located where it can educate, influence and coordinate other relevant parts of the UN secretariat directly.

            A study conducted last spring by Four Directions Council (an ECOSOC NGO) in collaboration with UNDP found that UN operational bodies already carry out hundreds of field projects directly affecting Indigenous communities.  Some projects are useful, while others are counterproductive or destructive.  There is little coordination or evaluation.  As the largest donors to multilateral development programs, Member States of the Union have a substantial interest in strengthening oversight, accountability, and coordination, in UN operational activities for development.  A strong, independent Forum secretariat will be a significant step in that direction.

            We would appreciate you circulating this letter to the other Member States of the European Union.  We also urge you to consider making a joint statement on these issues on behalf of the European Union, in the Fifth Committee, and also to consider circulating this letter to Member States under seal as an official document of the General Assembly.

Respectfully,

Assembly of First Nations (Canada)

National Congress of American Indians, NCAI (USA)

Four Directions Council (ECOSOC-NGO, North America)

Indigenous World Association (ECOSOC-NGO, International)

American Indian Law Alliance (ECOSOC-NGO, North America)

Saami Council (ECOSOC-NGO, Northern Europe)

Sandy Gauntlett, Associate Researcher, IRI (International Research Institute for Maori

and Indigenous Education, Auckland University, Aotearoa), Oceania Regional

NGO focal point, Global Forest Coalition

Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network (Asia)

Nepal Tamang Ghedung, Putali Sadak (Nepal)

International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests

(International)

IWGIA, International Workgroup on Indigenous Affairs (Denmark)

Yachay Wasi (ECOSOC-NGO, South America)

Red de Mujeres Indigenas Wayuu, Maracaibo (Venezuela)

United Confederation of Taino People, U.S. Regional Coordinating Office

CORE Manipur (India)

Simon Counsell, Director, Rainforest Foundation (UK)

City Cloisters, 196 Old Street, London EC1V 9FR – UK,

Tel + 44 (020) 7251 63 45, Fax + 44 (020) 7251 49 69

simonc@rainforestuk.com/ anneb@rainforestuk.com

Jose Carlos Morales, Miembro de la Juntade Sindicos de los Fondos Voluntarios de las Naciones Unidas para las poblaciones Indigenas y del Grupo Asesor de los Fondos Voluntarios para el Decenio Internacional de la Poblaciones Indigenas del

Mundo.
RAIPON, Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (Russia)

c.c.

- Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the European Union to the United Nations

- Mr. John Richardson, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the United Nations in New York

- Mr. Carlo Trojan, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the United Nations in Geneva

- EC Commissioners Mr. Chris Patten (External Relations), Mr. Poul Nielson (Development and Humanitarian Aid)