EU human rights policy on indigenous peoples

International expert Dialogue on MDG7

8 April 2010

Treaty on European Union According to Article 2, “Union is founded

on the value of respect for human dignity […], equality […] and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities”

Article 3 Treaty on European Union holds the Union to promote theses values in its relations with the wider world

Indigenous issues as integral part of the EU human rights

policy

EU has made human rights a central aspect of its external relations

EU seeks to integrate human rights including indigenous issues into all aspects of its external policies: political dialogues with third countries action in multilateral fora, e.g., UN development policy and assistance

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

EU engagement towards indigenous peoples is applied in the context of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Human Rights Dialogues

In order to examine Human Rights in greater depth in its bilateral relations, the EU holds human rights dialogues in line with the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Dialogues

The EU raises indigenous issues on a regular basis

International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

EU Delegations all over the world organise numerous events on or around 9 August, e.g.: meetings with indigenous leaders press conferences press articles participation in seminars visits to projects funded by the EU

Action at UN level EU enjoys observer status at the UN and

cooperates with EU Member States to forge common EU positions as well as to reach out to third countries with a view to further improve the human rights situation of indigenous peoples UN Human Rights Council the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (Third)

Committee

Action at UN level (cont.) UN Special Procedures, namely the Special

Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues as key process

Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Independent Expert on minority issues Convention on Biological Diversity

EU Cooperation

Mainstreaming of indigenous peoples’ issues in cooperation strategies; e.g.:• EC Colombia Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013:

addresses humanitarian & human rights situation of indigenous population, with key priorities:

• peace building through the involvement of marginalized citizens in local governance and participatory economy

• promotion of human rights, good governance and the fight against impunity

• EC Peru Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013: explicit inclusion of indigenous people in support for modernisation of the State, strengthening good governance and social inclusion

European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights

provides wide scope for specific actions in the field of indigenous peoples

Projects funded targeted at international organizations, NGOs and indigenous organizations, mainly aimed at (i) supporting indigenous peoples and their representatives in

participating in and following up on UN relevant to indigenous peoples (ii) supporting civil society activities aimed at promoting ILO

Convention 169 and its principles. E.g., EIDHR supports doCip (Geneva-based Indigenous Peoples’

Centre for Documentation, Research and Information) with a grant of €950,000 for three-year project aiming at enhancing efficiency of different UN processes addressing the rights of indigenous peoples

All EIDHR Calls for Proposals, whether global or local, are published at http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/human-rights/index_en.htm

Enhancement of internal awareness

internal quality support process staff training 2008 study on integrating support for promoting

the rights and issues of indigenous peoples in EC co-operation with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (case studies Suriname & Kenya)

Ongoing: Civil society mapping in Asia (focus on Nepal), including analysis of role of indigenous peoples organizations

within civil society recommendations to the EU Delegation on how to

involve such organizations in the EU policy dialogue and programming cycle

Websites European Commission External Relations

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/human_rights/adp/index.htm

EuropeAid http://ec.europa.eu/comm/europeaid/projects/eidhr/index_en.htm

European Commission Delegationshttp://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/delegations/intro/web.htm

Council of the European Unionhttp://www.consilium.europa.eu/showPage.asp?id=248&lang=en&mode=g

European Parliamenthttp://www.europarl.europa.eu/comparl/afet/droi/default.htm