European Commission – High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Document

Joint Staff Working Document: Implementing the EU External Policy on Indigenous Peoples

In the last few decades, there has been considerable progress in the advancement and
recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights both at international level and at national level in
many regions. The development of the institutional and policy frameworks at the United
Nations (UN) level has been an important driver for this. In particular, the adoption of the
International Labour Organisation Convention no 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (ILO
Convention 169) in 1989 and of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP) in 2007 was crucial. These positive developments were celebrated at the World
Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) in 2014.