The 20th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII20) will take place from 19 to 30 April 2021. the theme this year is “Peace, justice and strong institutions: the role of indigenous peoples in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16”.

In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation, and taking into account the latest guidance from the United Nations Secretary-General and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Forum Session will take place in a hybrid format with mostly virtual (online) meetings.

In-person meetings at UN Headquarters in New York will only take place at the opening and closing meetings, with limited in-person participation of Forum members and Member States. All other attendees will participate via an online platform. Participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations and civil society will not be possible in-person and will take place only online.

Further information about online registration will be posted in this space.

Preparations

International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Pandemics, 7-11 December 2020

The Indigenous Peoples in Development Branch within the Division of Inclusive Social Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs organized the international expert group meeting on a theme “Indigenous Peoples and Pandemics” recommended by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and endorsed by the Economic and Social Council.

For more information on this year’s virtual International Expert Group Meeting, please click here.

Virtual regional dialogues

The 2020 session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council decided that the 20th session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues would take place from 19 to 30 April 2021 at the UN Headquarters in New York. The special theme of the session will be: “Peace, justice and strong institutions: the role of indigenous peoples in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16”.

In preparation for the 2021 session, the Permanent Forum will organize a series of regional dialogues for an in-depth consideration of the situation of indigenous peoples in each of the seven socio-cultural regions of the world.

The overarching goal of the regional dialogues is to contribute to policy development and decision making that affects indigenous peoples and promotes the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

• Central and South America and the Caribbean:  27 and 29 October 2020 (available only in Spanish)
• The Pacific: 12 and 14 January 2021
• Asia: 18-19 January 2021
• Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia: 3-4 March 2021
• North America: 9 and 11 March 2021
• Africa (more info to come)
• Arctic (more info to come)

For more information, please visit: www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples

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