RES/30/4 Human rights and indigenous peoples

Human Rights Council Thirtieth session

Agenda item 3

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 1 October 2015

30/4. Human rights and indigenous peoples

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling all Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Council resolutions

on human rights and indigenous peoples,

Recalling also the adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in its resolution 61/295 of 13 September

2007,

Welcoming the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for

Indigenous Peoples in 2015, and acknowledging the decades of its substantive work to

facilitate the direct and meaningful participation of indigenous peoples within the United

Nations, the Human Rights Council and the human rights treaty bodies, also in the light of

this important anniversary,

Recognizing the importance to indigenous peoples of revitalizing, using, developing

and transmitting their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems

and literatures to future generations, and designating and retaining their own names for

communities, places and persons,

Welcoming the study by the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

on the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples with respect to their

cultural heritage, including through their participation in political and public life, submitted

to the Human Rights Council at its thirtieth session,A/HRC/30/53. and encouraging all parties to consider

the examples of good practices and recommendations included in the study as practical

advice on how to attain the end goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples,

Stressing the need to pay particular attention to the rights and special needs of

indigenous women, children, youth, elders and persons with disabilities, as set out in the

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,

Recalling the commitment to consider, at the seventieth session of the General

Assembly, ways to enable the participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives and

institutions in meetings of relevant United Nations bodies on issues affecting them,See General Assembly resolution 69/2.

including any specific proposals made by the Secretary-General in his report,See A/70/84-E/2015/76.

Recognizing the twenty-sixth anniversary of the adoption by the International

Labour Organization of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No.169) and

its contribution to the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples,

1. Welcomes the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights on the rights of indigenous peoples,A/HRC/30/25. and requests the High Commissioner to

continue to submit to the Human Rights Council an annual report on the rights of

indigenous peoples containing information on relevant developments in human rights

bodies and mechanisms and the activities undertaken by the Office of the High

Commissioner at Headquarters and in the field that contribute to the promotion of, respect

for and the full application of the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and follow-up on the effectiveness of the Declaration;

2. Also welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous

peoples, including the official visits made and her reports, and encourages all Governments

to respond favourably to her requests for visits;

3. Requests the Special Rapporteur to report on the implementation of her

mandate to the General Assembly at its seventieth session;

4. Welcomes the work of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous

Peoples, takes note with appreciation of the report on its eighth session,A/HRC/30/52. and encourages

States to continue to participate in and contribute to its discussions, including by their

national specialized bodies and institutions;

5. Requests the Expert Mechanism to prepare a study, to be finalized by its

ninth session, on the right to health and indigenous peoples with a focus on children and

youth, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-third session;

6. Also requests the Expert Mechanism to continue to undertake, with the

assistance of the Office of the High Commissioner, the questionnaire survey to seek the

views of States and indigenous peoples on best practices regarding possible appropriate

measures and implementation strategies in order to attain the end goals of the United

Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with a view to completing a final

summary of responses for presentation to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-third

session, and encourages States and indigenous peoples that have not yet provided their

responses to do so, as well as those States and indigenous peoples that have already

responded to the questionnaire survey to update their responses as appropriate;

7. Welcomes the adoption by the General Assembly on 22 September 2014 of

its resolution 69/2, containing the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of

the Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples;

8. Also welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the progress made in

the implementation of the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the

General Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples;3

9. Decides to hold, at its thirty-third session, a half-day panel discussion on the

causes and consequences of violence against indigenous women and girls, including those

with disabilities;

10. Welcomes the ongoing cooperation and coordination among the Special

Rapporteur, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Expert Mechanism, and

their permanent effort to promote the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples, including the follow-up to the World Conference of Indigenous

Peoples, and invites them to continue to work in close cooperation with all Human Rights

Council mechanisms within their respective mandates;

11. Reaffirms that the United Nations treaty bodies are important mechanisms for

the promotion and protection of human rights, and encourages States to give serious

consideration to their recommendations regarding indigenous peoples;

12. Welcomes the contribution of the universal periodic review to the realization

of the rights of indigenous peoples, encourages effective follow-up to accepted review

recommendations concerning indigenous peoples, and invites States to include, as

appropriate, information on the situation of the rights of indigenous peoples, including

measures taken to pursue the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples during the review;

13. Encourages those States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the

Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) of the International Labour

Organization or that have not yet supported the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples to consider doing so;

14. Welcomes the increased support by States for the United Nations Declaration

on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and encourages States that have endorsed it to adopt

measures to pursue its objectives in consultations and cooperation with indigenous peoples;

15. Encourages States to give due consideration to all the rights of indigenous

peoples in fulfilling the commitments undertaken in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development and in the elaboration of national programmes;

16. Welcomes the role of national human rights institutions established in

accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the

promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) in advancing indigenous

issues, and encourages such institutions to develop and strengthen their capacities to fulfil

that role effectively, including with the support of the Office of the High Commissioner;

17. Takes note of the activity of the United Nations Indigenous Peoples

Partnership and invites States and other potential donors to support it;

18. Urges States and invites other public or private actors or institutions to

contribute to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples as an important

means of promoting the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide and within the United

Nations system;

19. Decides to continue its consideration of this question at a future session in

conformity with its annual programme of work.

40th meeting

1 October 2015

[Adopted without a vote.]