On Friday 17 December, the Permanent Forum will organize a regional dialogue on Indigenous Peoples’ autonomy and self-governance in Asia supported by the Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch, Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
It will take place at 7am (US EST) / 7 pm (Bangkok, Thailand) / 8pm (Beijing, China) and moderated by Mr. Gam A. Shimray Secretary General, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP). Speakers are Beverly Longid (Philippines) Prof. Virginius Xaxa (India) and Banshi R. Chaudhary (Nepal).
At its twentieth session, the Permanent Forum committed to facilitating informal online regional dialogues on autonomy and self-governance to support the development of guiding principles for the realization of the rights of Indigenous Peoples to autonomy and self-government. Guiding questions for consideration of speakers and participants are:
- What are good practices related to Indigenous Peoples’ autonomy in the region?
- What have been the challenges or obstacles to implement the right to autonomy?
- What are the priorities of Indigenous Peoples?
- What could be the potential scope/content of these guiding principles?
Participation will be open to representatives of Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, Member States, UN entities, academia and NGOs, applying the same criteria for participation that is used for the annual sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.