A/HRC/21/24 VI. Issues for consideration 60. As mentioned above, a number of issues will need to be addressed with a view to implementing a procedure to enable the participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives in the United Nations. A. Eligibility for accreditation as an indigenous peoples’ representative 61. Existing practices may provide guidance in the identification of criteria for the accreditation of indigenous peoples’ representatives. For example, in resolution 6/36, the Human Rights Council refers to indigenous peoples’ organizations whose aims and purposes are in conformity with the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter. There is a similar requirement for non-governmental organizations in consultative status with Economic and Social Council, stated in Council resolution 1996/31. Other criteria applicable to non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council may also be relevant, such as that the organization undertake to support the work of the United Nations and to promote the knowledge of its principles and activities, in accordance with its own aims and purposes and the nature and scope of its competence and activities. Moreover, criteria may include a commitment to pursue the goals of promotion and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights as expressed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, emulating the requirement for non-governmental organizations focused on human rights to pursue the promotion and protection of human rights. 62. In resolution 18/8, the Human Rights Council refers explicitly to the participation of recognized indigenous peoples’ representatives in the United Nations system. This raises a number of important questions such as: from whom recognition is required, and what principles should determine, on the one hand, which indigenous peoples are recognized and, on the other, which representatives are recognized. In answering those questions, the fact that indigenous peoples have the right to self-identify as such, the right to selfdetermination, and the fact that there is no agreed definition of indigenous peoples should be borne in mind. Moreover, article 18 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decisionmaking in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures. Similarly, article 33 states that indigenous peoples have the right to determine the structures and to select the membership of their institutions in accordance with their own procedures. In that light, it is important to ensure that the process to determine recognized indigenous peoples’ representatives strengthens indigenous peoples’ participation through their institutions, representative bodies and organizations. B. Body to determine the eligibility of indigenous peoples’ representatives for accreditation 63. As outlined above, processes are already in place to determine the accreditation of indigenous peoples’ organizations and representatives to specific United Nations bodies, and their effective participation therein. For example, the secretariats of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (OHCHR and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, respectively) manage the accreditation processes for each body. Similarly, in the cases of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations and national human rights institutions, independent bodies are responsible for determining the eligibility of the respective persons 15