General Assembly Adopts Annual Resolution “Rights of Indigenous Peoples"

On 15 December 2025, the UN General Assembly adopted by recorded vote, the resolution on “Rights of Indigenous Peoples” - Item 68(a) (A/RES/80/191).

Among other issues, the resolution:

• Takes note of the work of the Commission on the Status of Women on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, including Indigenous women and girls, and suggests that the Commission on the Status of Women consider, in a future session, the issue of gender equality and the empowerment of Indigenous women and girls as a priority theme.
• Recalls its resolution 79/159 of 17 December 2024 deciding to organize a high-level panel within existing resources, to be held during the high-level week of the 82nd session of the General Assembly, in 2027, to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and share perspectives and best practices on the realization of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including to pursue the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Decides to initiate, at the high-level panel, a discussion on the organization of the Second World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, to be held in 2028, and invites the President of the General Assembly, at its eighty-first session, to conduct open-ended consultations with Member States and representatives of Indigenous Peoples within the framework of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, as well as with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur, in order to determine the modalities for the meeting, including the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the Conference.
• Calls upon the relevant States to recognize, respect and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact, and to respect the principle of no contact, where applicable.

Watch the webcast of the session here.