Expert Meeting on Indigenous Peoples, business, autonomy and the human rights principles of due diligence, including FPIC

Every year, the Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch / Secretariat for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues within the Division for Inclusive Social Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs organizes an international expert group meeting (EGM) on a theme identified by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and endorsed by the Economic and Social Council. At its 2021 session, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues decided that the theme its next session in 2022 will be “Indigenous Peoples, business, autonomy and the human rights principles of due diligence, including free, prior and informed consent”. This EGM gathered information and analysis from some of the world’s leading experts on the issue in preparation for the 2022 session of the Permanent Forum.

The meeting took place online over the course of five days from 6 to 10 December 2021. Each session was for one hour and thirty minutes and meeting times varied to facilitate participation from different time zones.

Registration was open for the following:

• Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and organizations
• Member States
• UN system entities
• NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC
• Academia

Concept note

Final Agenda 

Themes for discussion:

Monday December 6
10 AM (EST)
Session 1: Indigenous Peoples’ led business enterprises and autonomies
Session 1 Facebook live >>>

Presentations:
Kate R. Finn, Executive Director, First Peoples Worldwide
Alvaro Pop, Former Chair of the UNPFII
Kristen Carpenter, Professor, University of Colorado

Tuesday December 7
9 PM (EST)
Session 2: Indigenous Peoples, FPIC and human rights due diligence
Business operations and reprisals against Indigenous Peoples and their defenders
Session 2 Facebook live >>>

Presentations:
Rune Fjellheim, Owner & CEO – Rune Fjellheim AS
Saul Vicente Hernandez, National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, Mexico

Wednesday December 8
10 AM (EST)
Session 3: Effective remedy and redress for human rights impacts of businesses on Indigenous Peoples
Session 3 Facebook live >>>

Presentations:
José Aylwin, President, Citizen Observatory, Chile
Elifuraha Laltaika, Senior Lecturer, Tumaini University, Tanzania
Sek Sophorn, Attorney at Law, Cambodia
Carla F. Fredericks, The Christensen Fund
Viswanathan Ramasubramanian, Asian Development Bank 
Luis Rodriguez-Pinero, OHCHR

Thursday December 9
9 PM (EST)
Session 4: Business operations and reprisals against Indigenous Peoples their defenders and the impact on Indigenous women
Session 4 Facebook live >>>

Presentations:
Christen Dobson, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre

Friday December 10
10 AM (EST)
Session 5: Addressing the implementation gap through National Action Plans, proposed treaty on business and human rights and other initiatives
Session 5 Facebook live >>>

Presentations:
Birgitte Feiring, Danish Institute for Human Rights
Pablo Rueda-Saiz, University of Miami