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A/RES/57/191 



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General Assembly

Distr: General
18 December 2002
Original: English

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Fifty-seventh session
Agenda item 106

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly

[on the report of the Third Committee (A/57/553)]

57/191. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

The General Assembly,

Recalling Economic and Social Council resolution 2000/22 of 28 July 2000, in which the Council established the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, as well as Council decision 2001/316 of 26 July 2001 concerning the election/appointment of the sixteen members of the Forum and other organizational matters,

Recalling also its resolution 56/140 of 19 December 2001 on the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, in which it welcomed Council decision 2001/316,

Saluting the successful holding of the historic first annual session of the Forum at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 May 2002,

Having considered the report of the Forum on its first session,1

Wishing to strengthen, within the mandate of the Council, the interactive dialogue and partnership between the Forum and Governments, specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, other relevant international and regional organizations, indigenous people and indigenous peoples, as well as civil society at large,

Welcoming the creation of the Inter-Agency Support Group for the Forum,

Underlining the importance of securing adequate financial and secretariat support for the activities of the Forum, while reaffirming that the financing of the Forum shall be provided from within existing resources through the regular budget of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, funds and programmes and through such voluntary contributions as may be donated,

Recalling the decision of the Council taken in paragraph 8 of its resolution 2000/22 to conduct a review, without prejudging any outcome, of all existing mechanisms, procedures and programmes within the United Nations concerning indigenous issues, including the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, with a view to rationalizing activities, avoiding duplication and overlap and promoting effectiveness, and the decision of the Council to hold the review as soon as possible and not later than its substantive session of 2003, as stipulated in its decision 2001/316,

1.Requests the Secretary-General, in connection with draft decisions I to IV recommended by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at its first session for adoption by the Economic and Social Council:/2

  1. To appoint a secretariat unit, in accordance with the budget procedures established by the General Assembly in its resolution 41/213 of 19 December 1986, within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat in New York, to assist the Forum in carrying out its mandate, as defined in paragraph 2 of Council resolution 2000/22;

  2. To establish a voluntary fund for the Forum for the purpose of funding the implementation of recommendations made by the Forum through the Council, in line with paragraph 2 (a) of Council resolution 2000/22, as well as funding activities under its mandate, as defined in paragraphs 2 (b) and (c) of the same resolution;

2.Encourages the submission of applications of indigenous persons to the Secretariat, and invites the Secretary-General to give broad publicity to vacancies, when available;

3.Invites the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, including the Inter-Agency Support Group for the Forum, other relevant international and regional organizations and bodies, and indigenous people and indigenous peoples to assist the Forum in carrying out its mandate as enumerated in paragraph 2 of Council resolution 2000/22, including through the provision of staff;

4.Urges Governments, financial institutions and other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to consider contributing to the voluntary fund for the Forum to be established by the Secretary-General;

5.Takes note with interest of the proposals, objectives, recommendations and areas of possible future action identified by the Forum in its report on its first session,/1 and invites States, organizations of the United Nations system, other relevant international and regional organizations, and indigenous people and indigenous peoples to take them into consideration and, where they so decide, to take action;

6.Decides to authorize an exceptional three-day pre-sessional meeting of the members of the Forum from 7 to 9 May 2003.

77th plenary meeting
18 December 2002




Notes

1/ Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2002, Supplement No. 23 (E/2002/43/Rev.1).

2/ Ibid., chap. I, sect. A.