Advance List of Nominations to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2026-2028

Advance List of Nominations to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2026-2028 (As of 9 January 2025)

The following individuals have been nominated as members of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the term 2026-2028. The term begins on 1 January 2026 and concludes on 31 December 2028. 

According to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Resolution 2000/22, the Permanent Forum consists of “…eight members to be nominated by Governments and elected by the Council, and eight members to be appointed by the President of the Council following formal consultation with the Bureau and the regional groups through their coordinators, on the basis of broad consultations with indigenous organizations, taking into account the diversity and geographical distribution of the indigenous people of the world as well as the principles of transparency, representativity and equal opportunity for all indigenous people, including internal processes, when appropriate, and local indigenous consultation processes…” 

Member States' list of candidates for election to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the term 2026-2028: Elections to subsidiary bodies of ECOSOC (including the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues) will take place on 4 April 2025, in accordance with the distribution of seats among the regional groups, with due regard for the distribution of indigenous peoples among the countries of each of the regional groups (See ECOSOC Decision 2016/205, Election 4). 

AFRICAN STATES (1 member to be elected) 

Mr. Gervais Ndihokubwayo (Burundi) 

ASIA-PACIFIC STATES (1 member to be elected) 

Ms. Nan Li* (China) 

EASTERN EUROPEAN STATES (2 members to be elected) 

Mr. Suleiman Mamutov* (Ukraine) 

Mr Sergei Timoshkov (Russian Federation) 

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STATES (2 members to be elected) 

Ms. Laura Jazmín Cotí Lux (Guatemala) 

Mr. Rodrigo Eduardo Paillalef Monnard* (Chile) 

WESTERN EUROPEAN AND OTHER STATES (2 members to be elected) 

Ms. Brenda Gunn (Canada) 

Mr. Keith Harper* (USA) 

* Nominated for re-election 

Indigenous Peoples’ organizations-nominated for the term 2026-2028: The eighth member is nominated from one of the three regions with the largest Indigenous population (Africa; Asia; and Central and South America and the Caribbean).  This seat rotates among these three regions every three years.  For the 2026–2028 term, there will be two members of the Permanent Forum from Africa, nominated by Indigenous Peoples’ organizations. 

AFRICA (2 seats available for 2026-2028) 

Nominated by Regional organization 

Mr. Mohamed Handaine, (Morocco, Amazigh), Indigenous Peoples of Africa co-ordinating Committee – IPACC 

Nominated by National/ Sub-national organization/Others 

Mr. Edward Okaro Tunyon, (Tanzania, Pastoralist) Tanzania Network for Indigenous Pastoralists (TANIPE)  

Mr. Talent Mudenda, (Zimbabwe, Tonga Peoples), Luunga Visionary Trust 

Mr. Zouhir Naghala, (Morocco,Amazigh), Amazigh American Network Organization 

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 

Nominated by National/ Sub-national organization/Others 

Mr. Henry Alcibiades Rodriguez, (Panama, Guna), Congreso General de la Juventud Guna. 

NORTH AMERICA 

Nominated by National/ Sub-national organization/Others 

Ms. Cassidy Caron, (Canada, Métis), The Manitoba Métis Federation