A/HRC/44/35 Assembly resolution 71/321. They indicated that the Council was a critically important venue for indigenous peoples’ full and meaningful participation. 42. Several representatives indicated that indigenous peoples had their own government systems, traditional territories, languages and justice systems, and that, in some cases, they had even concluded treaties with other nations. Therefore, it was an indignity to be referred to as NGOs since they should be entitled to the same dignity and equality as all other nations and peoples. 43. In that regard, several representatives expressed their concern at the fact that the interactive dialogue had been undertaken following the rules of procedure and modalities of the Human Rights Council, which severely limited the participation of indigenous peoples and their representative institutions by requiring them to be accredited by an NGO maintaining consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. Some representatives indicated that such status was difficult to obtain and that only a handful of indigenous peoples’ organizations had managed to achieve it. 44. Indigenous representatives agreed with the proposal made by some Member States that indigenous peoples should be able to take the floor in the sessions of the Human Rights Council and to submit written statements. They also stressed the need for a specific accreditation process for indigenous peoples, with some also advocating for the establishment of observer status. The criteria for accreditation had to be based on selfdetermination and self-identification. IV. Concluding comments from the presenters 45. Ms. Cunningham thanked the presenters and delegations for their comments. Despite progress in terms of recognition of indigenous peoples, the first step towards enhancing their participation in the Human Rights Council and the United Nations as a whole was tackling the issue of accreditation. Accreditation procedures needed to be updated and made more flexible based on the current progress towards increased recognition of indigenous peoples and their rights. Flexibility meant making it possible for institutions and organizations of indigenous peoples to be accredited as peoples or nations in their own right. This was particularly necessary when it came to meetings that directly affected the situation and rights of indigenous peoples. Ms. Cunningham furthermore voiced support for allowing indigenous peoples and organizations to participate in the negotiation of Council resolutions and to nominate candidates for special procedures mandates. 46. She stressed that expanding the mandate of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples was a step in the right direction in terms of enhancing indigenous peoples’ participation in the United Nations system. Together with balanced representation of indigenous peoples across the seven sociocultural regions worldwide, those measures would help ensure equitable participation. 47. Mr. Deer began by regretting the limited participation of States in the dialogue, with only 10 State delegations taking the floor. He then referred to the previous experiences of indigenous peoples working with the General Assembly during the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and on the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. On both those occasions, indigenous peoples had felt ambushed by Member States. Despite their extensive participation during earlier negotiation stages, they were excluded from the final stage of negotiations, with detrimental effects for the texts. 48. Indigenous peoples were looking to the Human Rights Council to proceed in good faith, together with them. Mr. Deer highlighted the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Commission on Human Rights as a body that implemented good practices in terms of the participation of indigenous peoples and that had good outcomes, from which many lessons could be drawn. He lamented that although indigenous peoples could nominate mandate-holders for the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, they played no role in their 7