ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ

Thank you, Madam Chair

I make this statement as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, on behalf of the ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ, Australia’s National Human Rights Institution.

The adequate resourcing of Indigenous People’s work, including their representation at fora such as this is absolutely essential to the realisation of our rights.

The voluntary fund is a critical component of this, and I commend States for contributing to the fund and note that some States have increased their contributions recently.

Likewise, grants from governments to a variety of Indigenous organisations with particular goals and interests such as climate change are both necessary and welcome.

While it is great to see increasing numbers of Indigenous Peoples attending UN sessions, increased numbers are only one part of the equation. Without coordinated pre-work and effective caucusing and coordination, there is a risk that investments into representation are not being optimised.

To get the greatest benefit from engagement with international fora, there is a need of supportive mechanisms.

One way this could be addressed is to ensure that this forum prioritises the full and effective representation of Indigenous Peoples in the way that it is structured and resourced.

Another important measure would be to ensure that states’ funding for appointed UN official representatives from their jurisdictions, who sit on the UNPFII, EMRIP and other mechanisms, is adequate to fulfil the important roles they play.

Further, States should support national Indigenous representative bodies with a comprehensive remit across policy areas. In addition to their critical domestic role, such bodies can also provide a governance and capacity building function for effective international representation.

Properly resourced and stabilised, national representation can better enable Indigenous Peoples to harness the Indigenous knowledge and expertise which exists across multiple First Nations and sectors and to distil and direct this in a coordinated and strategic way.

This would allow those representatives who are resourced through short-term measures such as grants to be informed by, and tap into, a pre-existing and self-determining infrastructure to provide them with support as well as with the opportunity to tailor their contributions as part of a broader strategy in pursuit of Indigenous rights.

National representative organisations require sufficient and sustainable resourcing to operate independently and effectively. A number of potential mechanisms for financial sustainability and examples of their application are discussed in the Commission’s publications the Building a Sustainable National Representative Body Report (2008) and the Our Future in Our Hands Report (2009). This includes:

• Government provision of block-funding while bodies are in their establishment phase.
• One-off lump sum payments to create a Capital Fund, enabling an interest-accruing source of funds that can be drawn down on
• Ongoing payments to a Futures Fund generated by taking a percentage of a tax or levy
• Being granted Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR)/charity status and the ability to receive donations.

The rationale for the first two measures could be justified as a measure of restitution and compensation for the loss of lands and other injustices, which has not been otherwise forthcoming.

Indigenous peoples’ right to restitution is embedded in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at Articles 11 and 28.

Madam Chair

The ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ recommends that, in accordance with ECOSOC Resolution 2000/22 paragraph 7, that there be a review of the functioning of this forum to ensure that it is properly structured – prioritising the full, effective and equal participation of Indigenous Peoples – and resourced to fulfil its purpose.

We also recommend that States optimise their investments into Indigenous representation in international fora through sustained support of UN official representatives and of national domestic mechanisms which build capacity, coordinate participation, and better enable work towards shared goals.

Thank you.