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 : 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 : 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 rights/index_en.htmhttp://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 dex.htm  EuropeAid  European Commission Delegations b.htm  Council of the European Union mode=g  European Parliament