The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

The PFII is a subsidiary organ of ECOSOC and serves as an advisory body to the Council.

The idea of creating a permanent forum for Indigenous peoples at the UN level had already been pronounced during the 1980s and was seriously considered for the first time on the UN agenda at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993 (Henriksen 1999: 13). The long years until its final establishment were marked by

contrary positions between Indigenous groups, between governments, as well as between Indigenous peoples and governments (García-Alix 2003: 61). Finally, the Commission on Human Rights created an ad hoc working group to elaborate and consider further proposals for the possible establishment of a permanent forum for Indigenous peoples within the UN system which elaborated a corresponding suggestion in 2000. Indigenous participation within the process was enabled through a specific accreditation procedure (Henriksen 1999: 15–16).

The PFII is composed of 16 members serving in their personal capacity as independent experts. All serve for a period of three years, with the possibility of re-election or reappointment for one further period. The current chair is Ms. Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, a Tuareg from Mali. The PFII’s mandate stipulates that it shall discuss Indigenous issues relating to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. The Permanent Forum is entitled to provide expert advice and recommendations on Indigenous affairs to ECOSOC and other UN institutions and to raise awareness and prepare and disseminate related information. It is supposed to support the implementation of Indigenous rights and to improve the quality of UN programs regarding Indigenous peoples by raising the opportunities for Indigenous peoples to participate. It also performs important functions with regard to agenda-setting in that it has raised the visibility and prominence of Indigenous issues in the UN system and in international relations more generally.

Moreover, it aims at coordinating activities of UN bodies and organs for Indigenous peoples.

Thus, formally the PFII in the first place is an interface between Indigenous peoples and the UN system. Most recommendations that the Forum makes are directed to UN agencies, programs, and funds. The importance of UN bodies for the work of the Forum is also shown by the fact that the Forum’s agenda regularly includes the item

“comprehensive dialogue with United Nations agencies and funds”. In fact, the Forum has lobbied for an inclusion of Indigenous peoples as a category in projects and guidelines of UN institutions and for an increase in institutional funding targeted at IPs.

To support and promote the mandate of the PFII within the United Nations system, an Inter-Agency Support Group (IASG) has been established. Its mandate was later expanded to include support to Indigenous-related mandates throughout the inter-governmental system. The IASG serves as an inter-agency coordination mechanism with

a view to facilitating comprehensive and coordinated responses to the PFII. Its chairmanship rotates annually.

At the same time, the PFII also is an important venue for interaction between IPs and states. Individuals nominated by states make up half of its membership. Moreover, delegations made up of government officials from states which count with Indigenous populations are important participants during sessions, reporting about recent developments regarding Indigenous rights in domestic contexts. A number of other states also engage during sessions, especially those with a focus on IPs in their development policies. PFII sessions include a dialogue between members of the PFII and states as one agenda item. PFII recommendations also regularly address UN member states.

The PFII holds a session each year for two consecutive weeks in April/May in New York at UN headquarters. The annual session is a large gathering of IPOs, government and agency delegates, academics, advocacy NGOs and other supporters of the Indigenous cause. These actors can register as observers to the meeting and actively participate by delivering statements, organizing side-events, or networking with other participants.

Every second year, and alternating with review sessions, the Forum’s sessions focus around a special theme; for example, in 2018 the special theme was “Indigenous peoples’ collective rights to lands, territories and resources”.⁷⁷ Moreover, sessions have regularly included meetings with a regional focus, as well as discussions about PFII studies and other ongoing themes and priorities. The discussion of these topics usually takes place as a series of interventions by registered observers and occasional comments by PFII members. Sessions also include dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Chair of EMRIP, and closed meetings of the members. Apart from the official meetings, a number of important side-processes take place during sessions, such as the meetings of Indigenous thematic and regional caucuses (see Chapter five), side-events and unofficial meetings in the hallways and cafeterias.

However, the Permanent Forum is much more than its annual session. Between sessions the PFII’s members carry out studies, organize expert group meetings on selected topics,

77 Since the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, special themes have focused on specific articles of the Declaration and their application.

attend international meetings on Indigenous issues, and participate in country visits (Sapignoli 2017: 84). Moreover, the Permanent Forum’s secretariat provides assistance and support, functions as a permanent instance which keeps contact to UN bodies and organs, and maintains a website⁷⁸ and social media channels to inform the interested public about recent developments regarding Indigenous peoples in the UN context and beyond. It also maintains a public database to keep track of the progress realized with regard to the recommendations made by the PFII.⁷⁹ Through its chair, the PFII reports its activities annually to ECOSOC and submits its recommendations for approval.

However, over the years concerns about the working methods of the Forum grew.

During the 13^th session in 2014, the then chair of the Permanent Forum, Dalee Sambo Dorough, announced in her opening statement that the Permanent Forum would undergo a review process. She stated that “a number of Forum members ha[d] been consistently concerned with our own methods of work and the need to become a much more effective mechanism within the UN system” and pointed to the necessity to

“explore and initiate dramatic reform” (Sambo 2014). She then mentioned the areas on which reform efforts would focus: reduction of the number of recommendations made and of studies realized by Permanent Forum members; a focus on implementation in interactions with UN agencies and states; and a strengthening of the role of members (ibid.). During the PFII’s 2016 session, a number of changes to the proceedings at sessions were implemented. A major change was the introduction of closed meetings with each of the major constituencies, namely states, UN agencies, and IPOs. Moreover, speaking rules were changed; meetings now were held partly as interactive dialogue, and partly with a speaker’s list.

Although it is located within the state-based United Nations system, key features of the PFII show that it can be described as part of the shift away from intergovernmentalism towards transnational governance. This mainly concerns the composition of the Forum, made up of equal numbers of Indigenous members and members nominated by states.

However, Indigenous access to the Permanent Forum is not restricted to membership.

At sessions, participation by a broad spectrum of observers takes place, which by far outnumbers participation by members.

78 https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/, accessed 29.01.2019.

79 https://esa.un.org/unpfiidata/UNPFII_Recommendations_Database_list.asp, accessed 29.01.2019.