Celebrating 12 Years of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Today marks twelve years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). 

In a historic vote on September 13, 2007, 144 countries voted for the Declaration, only 11 abstained, and only four (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States) voted against it. Since 2007, all four countries, including the United States, have reversed their positions and now officially endorse the Declaration. 

The Declaration is the outcome of 25 years of hard negotiations. The rights spelled out in the document "constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the Indigenous Peoples of the world."  The Declaration protects collective rights and individual rights of Indigenous Peoples in relation to self-government, land, education, employment, health and other areas.

The Declaration also requires countries to consult with Indigenous Peoples with the goal of obtaining their consent on matters which concern them. As explained by former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, the right of self-determination is "to be full and equal participants in the creation of the institutions of government under which they live and, further, to live within a governing institutional order in which they are perpetually in control of their own destinies." 

While several countries have made steps towards aligning their policies with the standards enshrined in the Declaration, however, an implementation gap remains. 

Read to our anniversary issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

Listen to our Indigenous Right Radio Programs on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

International World Indigenous Peoples Day