Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly
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Opening of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
(As delivered)
Gracias, Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Madam President of ECOSOC,
Excellencies,
Thank you for the invitation to address you today.
I congratulate Chair Dario Mejía Montalvo on his re-election to lead the Permanent Forum and wish its members great success over the next two weeks of its twenty-second session.
Let me extend a very warm welcome to the Indigenous Peoples who travelled from far and wide to be in New York for this important occasion.
We gather today to hear your concerns and aspirations, to learn from your wisdom – and to celebrate the rich linguistic and cultural diversity represented in your communities.
We are all acutely aware of the interconnected crises playing out on a wide scale across our world – from climate change and conflict to biodiversity loss and violations of human rights.
These challenges to humanity and the planet are forcing us to take an honest look at how we enhance our global governance of public health, food systems and global common goods.
For Indigenous Peoples, the health of the planet and the health of people are intrinsically linked.
It took us a long time to learn from you and we are still paying a huge price for our slow learning curve.
The land and natural resources are intimately connected in your identities, cultures and livelihoods, as well as your physical and spiritual well-being.
It is therefore critical that our Organization understands the factors impacting your health and well-being, and addresses them in a holistic and rights-based manner.
To do this effectively, we need the experience and insight of Indigenous Peoples.
Your full and effective participation in processes that affect your rights is a core tenet of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It is also vital to the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at local, regional and international levels.
Your peoples’ ancestral knowledge, nurtured over centuries, has paved the way for the development of many modern medicines.
As guardians of 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity, you hold traditional proficiency in how to adapt, mitigate and reduce climate risks.
By following your guidance, we can be much better positioned to fulfil the SDGs.
I invite you to enrich our understanding and bolster our quest for transformative solutions.
Solutions which promote peace, ensure the protection of human rights and foster sustainable development.
Solutions that wisely use the forces of nature instead of trying to overpower them.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our world, and we at the UN, are at a watershed moment. A moment of inflection.
In such a time of challenges and change, we have to mobilize all our available assets.
To do so, we have to open the doors to the wider participation of indigenous peoples in the economies and the political processes, and particularly in the decisions affecting their traditional ways of life.
Of course, all of that must be fully in line with the principle of free, prior and informed consent.
On 20 April, I will hold the third Interactive Hearing with Indigenous Peoples as mandated by the General Assembly, to enhance the participation of indigenous representatives and institutions in the work of the UN.
I encourage both them and the Member States to explore how best to integrate the contributions of Indigenous scholars into our deliberations throughout the negotiating processes this session.
Dear friends,
It is high time we recognized how urgently we should act to save people and planet.
It is high time we reaffirmed the solidarity that should unite every member of our eight-billion-strong global community.
It is high time we acknowledged our mutual responsibilities to each other.
Because, our rights always come with responsibilities. And how we handle our inherited responsibilities, will indicate what kind of world we leave for our children.
Tanya Talaga, Canadian author of Anishinaabe and Polish descent, put it this way: “Rebuilding an inequitable and harmful relationship is not easy. But for the good of all our children – Indigenous and not – the hard work must begin.”
Let us take this to heart.
I hope this session will lead to fruitful discussions and I look forward to studying your suggestions.
I thank you.
