A/HRC/33/56
IV. Follow-up to the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples,
including the review of the mandate of the Expert
Mechanism
A.
Review of the mandate of the Expert Mechanism
28.
The agenda item on follow-up to the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples,
including the review of the mandate of the Expert Mechanism began with introductory
remarks from Mr. Tsykarev, who recalled paragraph 28 of the outcome document of the
World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, in which the General Assembly invited the
Human Rights Council:
Taking into account the views of indigenous peoples, to review the mandates of its
existing mechanisms, in particular the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples … with a view to modifying and improving the Expert
Mechanism so that it can more effectively promote respect for the Declaration,
including by better assisting Member States to monitor, evaluate and improve the
achievement of the ends of the Declaration.
29.
He presented some preliminary views regarding the review of the mandate, which
included the following: that the Expert Mechanism should have stronger relationships with
the Human Rights Council, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Special
Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples; that the Expert Mechanism needs to be
more readily accessible to indigenous peoples; that the Expert Mechanism has to be better
funded and has to be more engaged with country-specific activities, including provision of
technical assistance on request; and that the ultimate goal of the review should not be not
solely to strengthen the mandate of the Expert Mechanism, but rather to do so with a view
to increasing the rights of indigenous peoples on the ground.
30.
The Chief of the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section of OHCHR provided an
overview of the background to the review of the mandate. He also gave an update on the
workshop that had been held in Geneva on 4 and 5 April 2016 following Human Rights
Council resolution 30/11. The dynamic and constructive discussions at the workshop
resulted in a range of specific proposals, which had been, in some cases, also
complemented by written submissions. He thanked the more than one hundred participants
for their inputs, as well as Mr. Anaya for moderating the workshop in an inclusive and
engaging manner. OHCHR looked forward to providing further support to the mandate
review process.
31.
Mr. Anaya introduced the main discussion points and recommendations made at the
workshop. From those, three basic conclusions had become apparent: the need to strengthen
coordination between the Expert Mechanism, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples; expanding the Expert
Mechanism’s mandate to allow it to address country-specific situations, in a way that
avoided duplication with the work of the Special Rapporteur; and increasing the number of
members of the Expert Mechanism, while maintaining gender and geographical balance.
32.
Mr. Barume noted that the workshop had allowed consideration of a number of
additional issues deemed important by the Expert Mechanism. They included the need for
broader participation of indigenous peoples in the Expert Mechanism, the working
relationship between the Expert Mechanism and national human rights institutions, and
multi-stakeholder dialogues at the country level, including the private sector. Ms. TauliCorpuz added that better coordination between the indigenous mechanisms was needed and
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