A/HRC/33/27
Board of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples has recommended that
a budget be set aside to support the participation of an additional 38 representatives of
indigenous communities and organizations in the sessions of the Human Rights Council,
the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review and the treaty bodies to be held from
July 2016 to March 2017.
43.
In 2016, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples also supported
two extraordinary meetings on the outcome document of the World Conference on
Indigenous Peoples: a workshop on the review of the mandate of the Expert Mechanism on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the General Assembly consultation process aiming to
enhance the participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives in United Nations
meetings affecting them. In order to support robust participation in these two strategic
forums, the members of the Board recommended that an important part of its budget be
used to facilitate the attendance of 28 representatives of indigenous peoples in those
consultations.
44.
Efforts to strengthen the role of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous
Peoples beyond direct travel support were made, especially to build the capacity of the
beneficiaries of the Fund and to contribute to their more effective engagement with human
rights mechanisms. Induction courses and human rights training sessions were organized to
that end in the framework of the sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and
the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and in cooperation with Docip.
45.
During the reporting period, the three United Nations mechanisms devoted to the
rights of indigenous peoples — the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues — continued to strengthen cooperation, including by holding
coordinating meetings during the session of the Expert Mechanism in July 2015 and the
session of the Permanent Forum in May 2016.
B.
Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
46.
During its eighth session, in July 2015, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples held a panel discussion on the human rights of indigenous peoples in
relation to business enterprises, a discussion on the post-2015 development agenda and
indigenous peoples’ rights, and a consultation with States and indigenous peoples on the
United Nations system-wide action plan to ensure a coherent approach to achieving the
ends of the Declaration. The Expert Mechanism finalized and adopted a study on the
promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples with respect to their cultural
heritage (A/HRC/30/53), including through their participation in political and public life.
The study was submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirtieth session, in September
2015.
47.
Also in September 2015, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 30/11, in
which it requested OHCHR to convene a two-day expert workshop open to the participation
of States, indigenous peoples and other stakeholders, including by inviting the submission
of written contributions, to review the mandate of the Expert Mechanism. The expert
workshop, which was held in Geneva on 4 and 5 April 2016, brought together
approximately 100 participants, including representatives of States, indigenous peoples and
other stakeholders. OHCHR submitted a report on the workshop (A/HRC/32/26) to the
Council at its thirty-second session, in June 2016.
48.
In February 2016, the Office organized an expert seminar in Montreal, Canada,
jointly with McGill University. The main objective of the seminar was to collect
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