Joint Nordic - Baltic statement on the rights of indigenous peoples

Human Rights Council 39th Session

NORDIC-BALTIC STATEMENT 
Delivered by Denmark

Annual Panel Discussion on the rights of indigenous peoples, on the participation and inclusion of indigenous peoples in the development and implementation of strategies and projects in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

19 September 2018

[Check against delivery]

Thank you, Mr President

I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries[1].

We welcome the report[2] of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the rights of indigenous peoples, which underscores the particular relevance of the 2030 Agenda - and its focus on reducing inequalities and leaving no one behind - to indigenous peoples.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) place emphasis on participation and the principle of consultation in order to obtain free, prior and informed consent. Consequently, we support mechanisms for indigenous peoples’ participation in the implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda. Here, it is important to consider the interlinkages and possible synergies with other initiatives and frameworks such as the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. We therefore also encourage States to include information related to indigenous peoples in their voluntary reviews for the high-level political forum on sustainable development.

We support integrating the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples into development policies, including in the implementation of development programmes aiming at achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda. In order to systematically monitor the level of recognition and implementation, we encourage the further development of tools for collecting disaggregated data, such as the “Indigenous Navigator”.

In closing, we kindly ask the Panel’s reflections on how all stakeholders can better integrate the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda?