By Aluki Kotierk, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
22 April 2026 - The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues serves as a vital platform for Indigenous Peoples from across the world, to engage in dialogue with Member States and the UN system, culminating in a report providing tangible recommendations to advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples. At a time when civic space is shrinking, financial constraints are growing and progress seems to be slowing, the purpose of the Forum is even more critical to the promotion and defense of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The meaningful, full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in relevant UN bodies and mechanisms is critical to ensuring Indigenous Peoples have a voice in relation to matters that affect them. We hear about the barriers to this participation every year at the Forum directly from Indigenous Peoples. Creating formal spaces for Indigenous Peoples to participate, including in environment-related processes, is just the beginning. It must be backed by direct financing to allow the genuine participation of Indigenous Peoples, including that of Indigenous women and youth.
This year’s session of the Forum will explore the special theme, “Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ health, including in the context of conflict”. As Indigenous Peoples, we consider health and well-being as more than just physical and mental health: It is interconnected with culture, spirituality, our lands and our environment. The health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples must be understood and initiatives developed in a holistic way. Recognizing and implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the national and regional levels supports and contributes to the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples.
A continued threat to the health of Indigenous Peoples is conflict in all of its forms. With intensifying geopolitical tensions across the world, we are seeing that the impact of armed conflict impacts Indigenous Peoples in complex ways. Conflict is displacing Indigenous Peoples from their lands and territories, disrupting their ways of life, culture, livelihoods and ability to care for their environments. Conflict also causes a surge in human rights violations perpetrated against Indigenous Peoples. This is why it is critical to meaningfully include Indigenous Peoples in peace processes and conflict resolution.
A shared concern of the Forum is the increasing threats to Indigenous human rights defenders across the world. We hear from Indigenous Peoples who are subjected to criminalization as a result of their advocacy and promotion of their rights. We hear about reprisals including intimidation, threats, killings and enforced disappearance. The Forum reiterates its call to urge States to take the necessary steps to ensure the rights, protection and safety of Indigenous leaders and human rights defenders.
We met with experts in December for the international Expert Group Meeting that explored the theme, “Recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the context of the climate crisis, biodiversity governance and territorial integrity: focusing on nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, including pastoralists and shifting cultivators”. This was timely in that 2026 was declared the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. Among the experts gathered, a common emphasis that emerged is that the right to self-determination is fundamental for Indigenous Peoples, as it underpins their survival, dignity and ability to govern their own communities according to their values, laws and cultural traditions. Experts recommended that States recognize and respect the historical, cultural and ecological significance of the traditional way of life of mobile Indigenous Peoples, including nomadic and semi-nomadic Indigenous Peoples, such as pastoralists, shifting cultivators, hunter-gatherers, sea nomads and seafarers.
As we look ahead, 2027 marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration was a true triumph for justice and recognition of Indigenous Peoples, as distinct rights holders. It sets a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, well-being and dignity of Indigenous Peoples. Yet, its implementation has been uneven. It is our collective obligation, as society, as Member States, the UN system and Indigenous Peoples, to see the Declaration promoted and implemented, across the world, to achieve its ends.
* The views expressed in this blog are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of UN DESA.