Yana Tannagasheva participated in the Second intersessional meeting of the Human Rights Council on concrete ways to enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the work of the Council, which took place on 17-18 October 2024 in Geneva.
Indigenous Peoples from seven socio-cultural regions, UN Member-States, NGOs gathered to discuss concrete ways to enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples, a complex process that has been ongoing for many years. On the agenda were the principles, the means of accreditation, and the prevention of reprisals that Indigenous representatives face both at UN sessions and when they return to their communities.
Indigenous Peoples propose the creation of a new observer status that would allow them to participate more directly in the work of the HRC, which, for example, could include the right to speak at HRC sessions and other forms of interaction. Accreditation/registering for HRC sessions as Indigenous representatives rather than as NGOs is one of the results of this process to enhance the participation of IP.
It is very important that there is equal and balanced participation of Indigenous representatives from all seven socio-cultural regions:
Africa; the Arctic; Asia; Central and South America and the Caribbean; Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia; North America; and the Pacific.
The meeting was productive, notes Tannagasheva: Indigenous participants worked in solidarity, cohesion and intensity. Based on the results of the two intersessional meetings, we will be expecting a draft HRC resolution, and in the near future, Indigenous Peoples are hoping for a new observer status. The most important thing is that the process does not stop at discussions, Tannagasheva believes.
Yana Tannagasheva thanks the UN Voluntary Fund for supporting her participation in this historic meeting. She also calls on the UN to continue to support independent Indigenous representatives to ensure that it is their fair voices that are heard at such meetings.