19th Session United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - EU Statement - Item 9: Enhancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the United Nations

United Nations Expert Mechanism on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 19th Session, 13 - 17^th July 2026

Item 9: Enhancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the United Nations

EU Statement

Distinguished Members of the Expert Mechanism, distinguished Indigenous Peoples' representatives,

The EU remains strongly committed to continue actively engaging in all efforts to enhance the full, effective and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples' representatives and institutions in relevant United Nations bodies, including the meetings of the Human Rights Council, on issues affecting them. We have supported the recent measures taken by this Council to enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in its plenary debates.

The EU welcomes the progress achieved in recent years to enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the work of the Human Rights Council, including the intersessional meetings held in 2024 and the continued discussions under the Council. These represent important steps towards fulfilling the commitments made at the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. It is now important to move from continued discussion towards concrete, practical and institutionally workable arrangements that strengthen participation in practice.

We believe that the full, effective and meaningful participation should enable Indigenous Peoples to contribute effectively to discussions and outcomes on issues that affect them, in accordance with the principles of self-determination, inclusion and free, prior and informed consent.

Distinguished Members of the Expert Mechanism,

What concrete priority actions would you recommend to advance implementation of the recommendations from the 2024 intersessional meetings and ensure meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples in the Human Rights Council ahead of the next steps in this process?

I thank you.