The Permanent Forum serves as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues relating to economic and social development, culture, environment, education, health, and human rights. The Permanent Forum holds annual sessions of ten working days each year, generally in April-May.
The Permanent Forum consists of sixteen members (see ECOSOC resolution 2000/22):
- Eight to be nominated by Governments and elected by ECOSOC;
- Eight members to be appointed by the President of the ECOSOC following formal consultations with the bureau and regional groups through the coordinators, on a basis of broad consultations with indigenous organizations taking into account the diversity and geographic distribution of indigenous peoples of the world, as well as principles of transparency, representativity, and equal opportunity for all indigenous peoples, including internal processes, when appropriate, and local indigenous consultation processes.
Members of the Permanent Forum serve in their personal capacities. They are not United Nations staff members, they are not based in United Nations offices, and do not receive a salary. The United Nations supports their travel for the annual sessions of the Permanent Forum.
Vacancies have been filled for membership in the Permanent Forum for the period of January 2020 to December 2022
The current membership of the Permanent Forum will expire on 31 December 2022.
The nominations process has concluded. Please note that members may serve for up to two terms.
Nominations by indigenous peoples’ organizations
Seven indigenous nominated members are from each of the seven socio-cultural regions determined to give broad representation to the world’s indigenous peoples. These socio-cultural regions are Africa; the Arctic; Asia; Central and South America and the Caribbean; Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia; North America; and the Pacific.
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. (See ECOSOC Decision 2016/205, Election 2).
For the 2020–2022 term, there will be two members of the Permanent Forum from Central and South America and the Caribbean, nominated by indigenous peoples’ organizations.
Download the Call for nominations by DESA: EN | SP | FR | RU
How to submit nominations:
To send in nominations for consideration the following documents are required:
- Nomination letter
- A recent resume/curriculum vitae of the nominee (maximum 2 printed pages in Word format)
- A short biography of the nominee (200 words)
- Information on the consultations amongst indigenous peoples’ organizations
- Information about the nominating organization(s)
Consultations amongst indigenous organizations are encouraged to commence as soon as possible to ensure that the President of the ECOSOC has suitable candidates for consideration and appointment. In considering possible candidates the organizations are encouraged to take into account the expertise relevant to the mandate of the Permanent Forum as well as the principles of geographic distribution and gender balance.
The deadline for submission of nominations for PFII 2020-2022 has now passed.
Where to submit:
Nominations can be submitted by:
email:
indigenous_un@un.org | Subject: Nominations PFII (period applied for)
OR correspondence:
Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch – Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Division for Inclusive Social Development
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)
Room S-2954, 405 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
United States of America
Received nominations will be confirmed by email.
The full list of the members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2020-2022) starting on 1 January 2020, can be found here >>>
