A/HRC/15/38 I. Introduction 1. The present document has been prepared in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 12/13 of 12 October 2009 by which the Council requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare “a detailed document outlining the practical implications of a change in mandate of the Voluntary Fund [for Indigenous Populations], in particular if it is expanded, the current working methods and resources of the Fund, and to present it to the Council at its fifteenth session”. 2. The request of the Human Rights Council relates to the proposal made by the Human Rights Council’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (hereinafter “the Expert Mechanism”) to expand the mandate of the Fund. At its first session on 1–3 October 2008, the Expert Mechanism proposed that that the Human Rights Council suggests to the General Assembly to broaden the mandate of the Fund to help indigenous peoples to participate in the sessions of the Human Rights Council and human rights treaty bodies (the proposal is contained in the report on the first session, A/HRC/10/56). At its second session on 10–14 August 2009, the Expert Mechanism proposed “that the Human Rights Council follow up further on the recommendation made by the Expert Mechanism at its first session to expand the mandate of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations to cover also the sessions of the Human Rights Council and those of human rights treaty bodies” (contained in the report on the second session, A/HRC/12/32). II. Mandate of the Fund 3. The United Nations Voluntary Fund on Indigenous Populations (the Fund) assists representatives of indigenous peoples’ communities and organizations in participating in the sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (the Permanent Forum) and of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Expert Mechanism). In 2009, the Board of Trustees (the Board) of the Fund allocated a total of 111 grants for representatives of indigenous communities and organizations to attend the Permanent Forum and Expert Mechanism for a total of US$ 412,022. In 2010, the Fund provided 101 travel grants for indigenous representatives to attend the Permanent Forum and Expert Mechanism for a total of US$ 412,524. 4. The current mandate of the Fund is a result of a number of developments since the General Assembly, convinced that the establishment of a voluntary trust fund would constitute a significant development for the future promotion and protection of the human rights of indigenous populations, established the Fund through resolution 40/131 of 13 December 1985. The original purpose of the Fund was to assist representatives of indigenous communities and organizations to participate in the deliberations of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the then Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities by providing them with financial assistance, funded by means of voluntary contributions from Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other private or public entities. 5. The mandate of the Fund was extended by General Assembly resolution 50/156 of 21 December 1995, which provided that the Fund would also be used to assist representatives of indigenous communities and organizations to participate in the deliberations of the open-ended intersessional working group of the Commission of Human Rights to elaborate the draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, established by the Commission in its resolution 1995/32 of 3 March 1995 and endorsed by the Economic and Social Council on 25 July 1995. Subsequently, the Fund enabled over 130 specialized 3