Indigenous Peoples’ side event and activities at the High Level Political Forum 2017

In 2017, HLPF will take place from 10-19 July at the UNHQ in New York under the theme “Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”.

The goals under review in 2017 are: Goal 1 (End poverty), Goal 2 (Zero-hunger), Goal three (Good Health and well-being), Goal 5 (Gender Equality), Goal 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure) and Goal 14 (Life below Water), as well as every year Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Further, 44 countries are undergoing Voluntary National Reviews, including many countries with Indigenous Peoples. See the full list of countries here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf

A delegation of around 20 Indigenous representatives is expected to attend the HLPF and provide inputs to the discussion from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples.

Various side-events related to Indigenous Peoples’ rights and the 2030 Agenda will be organised and an Indigenous Media Zone will cover the first day of the high level/ministerial segment of the HLPF on 17 July. Updates on these events will be shared on this page as well as through social media for people following HLPF outside the United Nations.

UNPFII’s substantive inputs to HLPF 2017

As a subsidiary body to the Economic and Social Council, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues provided substantive inputs to the thematic reviews of the High Level Political Forum 2017, highlighting what is needed to ensure that indigenous peoples are not left behind in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The substantive inputs can be found in all UN languages here.

The substantive inputs are also available on the Sustainable Development Online Review platform here.

On the main page of the HLPF (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf), the different progress reports and synthesis reports informing the HLPF 2017 are available.

The “Synthesis of voluntary submissions by functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council and other intergovernmental bodies and forums” makes several points related to Indigenous Peoples, including the importance of reviewing legislation from the perspective of human rights of Indigenous peoples and of ensuring effective engagement of indigenous peoples’ as active stakeholders in implementation, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda. The report also draws attention to the special situation of Indigenous women, the customary rights and laws of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to access, use, govern and manage lands and natural resources and the negative effect of business enterprises that have adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples.

The UNPFII substantive inputs were submitted to the President of ECOSOC on the 28 April 2017. Unfortunately, the substantive inputs were not integrated in the synthesis report, but they can be read in their entirety through the online review platform (see link above).

Activities related to Indigenous issues during the High Level Political Forum 2017 – follow this page for updates

• SIDE EVENT on 12th July 6.15 to 7.30 PM in Conference Room B:
  • Side Event on “Overcoming Poverty – Indigenous Concepts of Well-being and Development” (organised by the Indigenous Peoples’ Major Group and the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (SPFII/DSPD/DESA) and co-sponsored by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UN Women and the International Indigenous Women’s Forum).
  • See the Flyer for the event here: Side Event Flyer_Overcoming Poverty_Indigenous Concepts of Well-being and Development_12 July 2017.
  • Please note that if you wish to attend the side event and do not hold a ground pass to the UN or the High Level Political Forum, you can request a ticket by sending an e-mail to us (Indigenous_un@un.org) with your name and the name of your organisation. There are very limited tickets for the event due to limited space. Deadline for signing up is 10th July at 10 AM NYC Time. Thank you!
• PRESS CONFERENCE on 13th of July 1 to 2 PM at www.webtv.un.org:
  • Press Conference on Indigenous Peoples’ concept of well-being and development (UN Department of Public Information)
• LEARNING SESSION on 14th of July 3 to 6 PM:
  • Learning Session – A Human Rights Based Approach to Eradicating Poverty and Promoting Prosperity in a Changing World  (Danish Institute for Human Rights; Ministry of the Economy, Chile; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark; International Labour Organization (ILO); Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); Indigenous Peoples Major Group; Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact; Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR); Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs). See more here.
• INDIGENOUS VOICES AT HLPF on 17th of July 9 AM to 6 PM:
  • Indigenous Voices at the High Level Political Forum. Indigenous representatives and community media will cover the HLPF 2017 through their own perspectives, voices and languages in this one-day space with panels, interviews and story telling with the Indigenous representatives at the HLPF. The programme will be available on this page soon.

Read more about Indigenous Peoples and the 2030 Agenda HERE