Geneva, 11 July 2016

Vice-President of the Human Rights Council,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Experts,
Representatives of Indigenous Peoples,
Ladies and gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to open this 9th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I welcome the members of the Expert Mechanism, including newly appointed member Ms. Erika Yamada, and thank you all for the commitment and energy with which you pursue your work.

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to all the indigenous peoples’ representatives from different regions, including 29 OHCHR indigenous fellows who are completing their programme this week, as well as 20 beneficiaries of the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples. Your contribution and active participation are essential for ensuring that the work of the Expert Mechanism addresses the real concerns of indigenous peoples and that the proposals emanating from this session make a targeted and concrete contribution to the advancement of the rights of indigenous peoples.

Close to ten years after the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the gaps between promises and reality remain wide. As the Expert Mechanism’s study for this year emphasizes, the right to health is no exception. The findings of treaty bodies, special procedures and the UPR demonstrate that marginalization, discrimination, and insecure land rights constitute significant barriers to indigenous peoples’ health throughout the world.

The Expert Mechanism highlights the multi-dimensional nature of indigenous peoples’ right to health, shedding light on the challenging situations that indigenous children, women and persons with disabilities face in this area. For example, where data is available, maternal and infant mortality rates in indigenous communities are consistently higher than national averages. Indigenous women are also disproportionately likely to experience violence during their lifetimes and indigenous children and youth show a high prevalence of mental illness and suicide. I would like to encourage all stakeholders to take into account the advice of the Expert Mechanism when devising programmes and policies to address the multi-faceted challenges involved in fulfilling indigenous peoples’ right to health. It is also essential that when addressing the right to health, we reject imposed models and seek participatory solutions together with the indigenous peoples concerned. That is the only way to ensure sustainability of solutions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, your session will address follow up to the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. It has been almost two years since States committed themselves to real action to address the impact of major development projects on indigenous peoples; boost the participation of indigenous peoples at the United Nations; and to step up work to combat violence against indigenous women. In this regard, I am very glad to welcome to the session the Advisors of the President of the General Assembly on the consultation process on enhancing the participation of indigenous peoples at the United Nations.

For OHCHR, enhancing indigenous peoples’ participation is a long-standing priority, and we appreciate the fact that the General Assembly is now actively looking for new ways to strengthen the voice of indigenous peoples within the UN. The appointment by the President of the General Assembly of both indigenous and state representatives as advisors is in itself a reflection of the spirit of partnership which should guide all our work affecting indigenous peoples. This process is also an example of the impact of the work of the Expert Mechanism. It flows from the proposal made by the Expert Mechanism at its fourth session, urging the Human Rights Council to encourage the General Assembly to adopt, appropriate permanent measures to ensure that indigenous peoples’ governance bodies and institutions, are able to participate at the United Nations.

The World Conference has also resulted in the review of the mandate of the Expert Mechanism. Our Office organized a two-day expert workshop in April, which brought together representatives of indigenous peoples, Member States, and other stakeholders to discuss ways of strengthening of the Expert Mechanism’s mandate. The workshop revealed that there is broad support from both States and indigenous peoples to strengthen the mandate of this subsidiary body of the Council. Proposals emanating from the workshop ranged from increased engagement at country level to the preparation of an annual global report on the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The report also highlights some areas of common concern, including strengthening coordination between the Expert Mechanism, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples. The workshop also underlined the need to ensure that the financial and human resources to support the Expert Mechanism’s work are commensurate with its mandate.

It is quite clear that the ultimate value of the Expert Mechanism, and in fact of the entire UN human rights machinery, must be measured against progress on the ground. In the coming months, I encourage Member States and indigenous peoples to build upon the results of the workshop and work towards an Expert Mechanism that can generate real progress in the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples, an Expert Mechanism that will make a true contribution to closing that enormous gap between the principles of the Declaration and the reality in which millions of indigenous peoples live. OHCHR is committed to working with all of you to reach that goal.

While the focus on specific human rights challenges is crucial, we must also address the bigger picture. I would therefore like to encourage all of you to take active part in this session’s discussion on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

This discussion will be facilitated by a survey we have carried out once again with the Expert Mechanism on measures to attain the goals of the Declaration. I would like to thank all the States and indigenous representatives who contributed. The results, while limited in their scope since we received only a few replies to the questionnaire this year, continue to show that, even though the standards of the Declaration are often overlooked and targeted strategies for their implementation remain too rare, there are also many positive practices at the national level that must be supported and replicated. Our Office is working with governments and indigenous peoples to expand such practices, including by supporting the development of national action plans for the implementation of the Declaration, called for in the Outcome Document of the World Conference.

The ultimate duty to implement human rights standards remains at the national level but the UN has a key role to play in supporting Member States and indigenous peoples in this regard. We must all sharpen our tools and keep the issue of indigenous peoples’ rights as a key priority, both at the national and international level. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights looks forward to continuing to support and cooperate with the Expert Mechanism and to working with all our partners and allies towards our common goal of advancing the implementation of the rights of indigenous peoples.

I thank you for this opportunity to address you and wish you a successful ninth session.