The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNFPII) is the advisory body to the United Nations Economic and Social Council for discussing indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. It has a Trust Fund on Indigenous Issues relating to the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People. This Fund was established “to promote, support and implement the objectives of the Decade,” such as:
- Promoting non-discrimination and inclusion of indigenous peoples in the design,implementation and evaluation of international, regional and national processes regarding laws, policies, resources, programmes and projects;
- Promoting full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in decisions which directly or indirectly affect their lifestyles, traditional lands and territories, their cultural integrity as indigenous peoples with collective rights or any other aspect of their lives, considering the principle of free, prior and informed consent;
- Redefining development policies that depart from a vision of equity and that are culturally appropriate, including respect for the cultural and linguistic diversity of indigenous peoples;
- Adopting targeted policies, programmes, projects and budgets for the development of indigenous peoples, including concrete benchmarks, and particular emphasis on indigenous women, children and youth;
- Developing strong monitoring mechanisms and enhancing accountability at the international, regional and particularly the national level, regarding the implementation of legal, policy and operational frameworks for the protection of indigenous peoples and the improvement of their lives.
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