wfn.org | Indigenous Peoples' Forum

[Sheila MESA <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
27 March 1998

WCC URGES UN TO MAKE PROGRESS ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES'
FORUM

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has called on the UN to push
ahead and establish a Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples.

The WCC made its appeal on Friday 27 March in an intervention at the
54th Session of the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights, which
is currently meeting in Geneva.

Ms Line Skum, a staff member in the WCC's Indigenous Peoples'
programme, and herself a member of the Saami People from Norway,
congratulated the Commission for breaking new ground which had given
Indigenous Peoples access - although limited in some cases - to the UN
system in ways not possible elsewhere.

Ms Skum noted that the Commission had before it a report from its own
sub-commission recommending that a Permanent Forum for Indigenous
Peoples be set up.  The WCC believed it was now time for governments
to move beyond words, and the mandate, structure and implementation
of the forum should be decided before the Commission's next meeting in
one year's time.

The full text of Ms Skum's intervention follows:
  
Intervention on Item 23 - Indigenous Issues - at the 54th Session of the
Commission on Human Rights, 1998 by the World Council of Churches

"Mr Chairman, I bring you greetings from the 332 member churches of the
World Council of Churches.  We are pleased to be able to make an
intervention on this item of the agenda because, over the last decade,
the WCC has steadily strengthened its relationships with Indigenous
Peoples - in fact it is true to say that the process is having a remarkable
and creative effect on almost all parts of our organisation.

May we also say how encouraged we were by the words of the High
Commissioner, Mrs Mary Robinson, at the opening of the Open-ended
Inter-sessional Working Group last October.  Her own personal
understanding of Indigenous issues and their search for justice will
undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the work of the
Commission.

Mr Chairman, this Commission deserves congratulations for the way it
has persistently broken new ground within the United Nations structure,
through the work of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples. 
Representatives of Indigenous Nations and Communities have had
access to that Working Group in a way not possible anywhere else in
the UN system.  That access, though much more limited, has also been
possible within the Open-ended Inter-sessional Working Group on the
Draft Declaration.

By their attendance at these meetings Indigenous Peoples have shown
that they are prepared to take part in UN processes - foreign and difficult
though those processes are to Indigenous and traditional ways.  Over
the last twelve years, and particularly in the last five years, literally
hundreds of Indigenous representatives have taken the floor at sessions
within the working groups and this Commission itself.  The participation
of Indigenous representatives in these meetings represents an enormous
contribution, both financially and in terms of human resources, to the
work of the UN, by Indigenous communities.  The support provided by the
Voluntary Fund and other international NGOs such as the WCC is of
great help, but cannot be compared to the huge financial commitment
made by the Indigenous communities.  Already, through the voices of
their representatives, Indigenous Nations and communities are helping
the UN do its work in the most appropriate manner.

The seriousness of Indigenous Peoples to make their contribution to the
United Nations is the backdrop to the creation of a Permanent Forum for
Indigenous Peoples.  This is no longer an option to be discussed.  As the
49th session of the Sub-Commission resolved last year, it is a matter
which needs to be expedited. 

Mr Chairman, there are two partners in those discussions - the member
states and the Indigenous communities.  This might sound obvious to
states represented here today, but we believe it needs to be constantly
reiterated.  The formation of the Permanent Forum is a partnership; it is
not a concession by governments; nor merely acquiescence by
governments to pressure from Indigenous Peoples.  It must be a
partnership, with both parties willingly exploring how best it will operate.

It is pleasing to note that there are governments which have put time and
effort into this on-going debate.  We support the Danish proposal made
on behalf of the Nordic countries to establish an Ad hoc group.  This Ad
hoc group should explore the mandate, structure and implementation of
the permanent forum between this session and the 55th session of the
Commission.  Indigenous Peoples should have full participation in this
process.  

The establishment of the Permanent Forum must not be dogged by
anxiety about creating precedents - those have already been created in
that the Indigenous representatives are already an important part of the
work of this Commission and ECOSOC generally.  It must not be
hampered by its energy being dissipated by having to write countless
reports, with the associated need to lobby endlessly for their
acceptance and adoption.  And, above all it must not be stifled once it
begins to speak.  The partnership inherent in that permanent forum
provides the opportunity for governments to move beyond words in their
support for Indigenous participation in this vital part of the UN's work. It is
time, as the Secretary-General said in his message to us, "to embark on
a new stage in our journey to bring the message (of the Universal
Declaration) to life for all peoples".

For further information: Ms Line Skum +41.22.791.62.11 or  Rev. Bob
Scott +41.22.791.62.11.

N.B. The Lutheran World Federation and the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches are both expected to make interventions to the Commission
today, Friday.  For the texts, please contact: Mr Peter Prove (LWF)
+41.22.791.63.64, and Rev. Seong Won Park (WARC) +41.22.791.62.36.

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 332, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

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