The General Assembly, in its resolution 65/198 of 21 December 2010, decided to organize a high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly, to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, in order to share perspectives and best practices on the realization of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including pursuing the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In its resolution 66/296, the General Assembly further decided that the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples would be held on 22 September 2014 and in the afternoon of 23 September 2014 in New York.
The World Conference was composed of two plenary meetings in the form of an opening and a closing session, three interactive round-table discussions and one interactive panel discussion, with the opening meeting beginning at 9 a.m. on 22 September 2014, followed, in the afternoon, by two round-table discussions taking place simultaneously.
To provide valuable input into the preparatory process for the World Conference, the President of the General Assembly organized on 17 and 18 June 2014 an informal interactive hearing with representatives of Indigenous Peoples and representatives of entities of the United Nations system, academic institutions, national human rights institutions, parliamentarians, civil society and non-governmental organizations, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the present resolution.
The World Conference resulted in a concise, action-oriented outcome document prepared on the basis of inclusive and open informal consultations with Member States and Indigenous Peoples.