United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Thirteenth Session

New York, 12-23 May 2014

Agenda Item 6: Discussion on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Statement delivered by Jennifer Corpuz on behalf of Tebtebba, the Asian Indigenous Women's Network (AIWN), Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners (ILEPA), CADPI (Centro para la Autonomia y Desarollo de los Pueblos Indigenas) and MPIDO (Mainyoito Pastoralist Integrated Development Organisation)

Thank you Madam Chair for this opportunity to share our views on this Agenda Item. I take the floor on behalf of Tebtebba and its partner organizations, who have been proactively organizing themselves and their constituents in order to understand better and contribute substantively and constructively to the WCIP process.

We support the statement of the Asian, African and Abya Yala Indigenous Peoples' Caucuses on this Agenda Item. Indigenous peoples from our regions remain committed to moving forward with the preparations for the WCIP, consistent with the UNDRIP, including through participation in consultations, interactive dialogues, and by providing comments on the draft outcome document. We call on the President of the General Assembly to set definite dates for the preparatory activities of the WCIP, in consultation with indigenous peoples.

We believe that the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples is an extremely significant event as it is the first of its kind to be convened by the United Nations. We do not agree with calls for the cancellation of the WCIP; we believe that the WCIP should take place as scheduled this year, with the full, effective and equal participation of indigenous peoples, in accordance with relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the UNDRIP. We wish to reiterate that full, effective, and equal participation of indigenous peoples refers not just to providing space for indigenous peoples at the Conference itself, but also to the provision of adequate resources to enable our participation, as well as facilitation of the issuance of visas to enter the United States. In numerous instances indigenous representatives were not able to participate in crucial meetings taking place in this country because their visa applications were denied.

We support the nomination of Dr. Myrna Cunningham of Nicaragua and Mr. Robert Leslie Malezer of Australia to serve as indigenous advisors to the President of the General Assembly in the WCIP process. Both nominees have a long history of passionately and effectively fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples. We trust them and are confident that they will ably represent indigenous peoples' views in the WCIP consultation process.

It is now past time to move to a substantive discussion on the content of the concise action-oriented outcome of the WCIP, in addition to the procedural discussion that has been taking place. We believe that the Alta Outcome Document, formulated at the indigenous peoples' preparatory meeting last year in the territory of the Saami people in Norway, contains sufficient basis for an action-oriented outcome document of the WCIP. Furthermore, we propose that the themes identified in the Alta Outcome Document should likewise be the themes of the WCIP, specifically:

1. Indigenous peoples' lands, territories, resources, oceans and waters.

2. United Nations System action for the implementation of the rights of indigenous peoples' rights.

3. Implementation of the rights of indigenous peoples,

4. Priorities for development with free, prior, and informed consent.

We look forward to participating actively and constructively in the WCIP process, and to sharing perspectives and examples of best practices of the protection of their individual and collective political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

19 May 2014