Enhancing participation and representation of indigenous peoples in parliament

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Enhancing participation and representation of indigenous peoples in parliament

October 30, 2015

In response to a strong request from indigenous parliamentarians to increase parliaments’ familiarity with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), UNDP in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (SPFII), the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),  the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) –produced a Handbook for Parliamentarians - "Implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” to mark the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (22-23 September 2014, New York).

This handbook on UNDRIP is a practical tool to assist parliamentarians to improve their understanding of the rights of indigenous peoples. It provides a series of checklists that can be used to assess parliamentary engagement with indigenous peoples’ rights and identifies areas that may require strengthening. It also contains practical examples of how the provisions of the UNDRIP have been implemented at the national and local levels. This handbook is divided into two sections. The first section focuses on questions concerning indigenous peoples such as: why indigenous peoples’ rights are important for parliamentarians; who are indigenous peoples; what are indigenous peoples’ rights under international standards; what is free, prior and informed consent, and why free, prior and informed consent is important for parliamentarians.