A/HRC/44/35 indigenous peoples’ participation made a substantive contribution to the work of the United Nations. 10. Mr. Paulo David, speaking on behalf of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, reaffirmed the need to remain committed to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The principles of the United Nations and of the Declaration had to be reflected in practice at the United Nations. He referred to article 41 of the Declaration, which states that the organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system had to contribute to the full realization of the provisions of the Declaration. 11. Mr. David took stock of the progress made to date. He recalled that in 1923, Cayuga Chief Deskaheh of the Iroquois nation came to Geneva to petition the League of Nations to address the rights of his and other indigenous peoples in North America. Unfortunately, despite an entire year of advocacy and awareness-raising in Geneva, his pleas were met with what the Chief would later recall as “cruel indifference”. Mr. David reminded the Council of the establishment of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations by the Commission on Human Rights in 1982, which reflected a conscious decision of the Commission to facilitate the participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations in its sessions. Indigenous peoples’ participation in the Working Group also allowed for their active engagement in the drafting and negotiations that led to the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly in 2007. 12. Mr. David highlighted that indigenous peoples’ participation in their own right had strengthened the work of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 13. While acknowledging that there were understandably more constraints to the participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives and institutions in the Human Rights Council than in the Expert Mechanism or the Permanent Forum, Mr. David encouraged Member States to keep an open mind and to hear from indigenous peoples regarding ways in which their participation in the Council could be enhanced. He likewise urged indigenous peoples to take into consideration the concerns of Member States. 14. Mr. David noted the active participation of indigenous peoples in certain aspects of the work of the Human Rights Council, including the universal periodic review, the annual panel discussion on the rights of indigenous peoples, and the interactive dialogues with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. He pointed out, however, that indigenous representatives had repeatedly flagged the requirement for accreditation by an NGO that maintained consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as a stumbling block to their participation. 15. Mr. David concluded by recognizing the complexity of the issue at hand and affirming the readiness of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to support both indigenous peoples and Member States in the quest for greater participation and for an improved recognition of the unique specificities of indigenous peoples worldwide. III. Summary of the proceedings A. Introductory presentations 16. Ms. Cunningham acknowledged the cooperation that has existed between the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples and the Human Rights Council and its predecessors over the years. She focused on the role of the Fund in strengthening the voices of indigenous peoples at the sessions of the Council and its subsidiary bodies, including the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. 3