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Guided by the purposes and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations, and good faith
in the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by
States in accordance with the Charter,
Affirming that indigenous peoples are equal to all
other peoples, while recognizing the right of all
peoples to be different, to consider themselves
different, and to be respected as such,
Affirming also that all peoples contribute to the
diversity and richness of civilizations and cultures,
which constitute the common heritage of humankind,
Affirming further that all doctrines, policies and
practices based on or advocating superiority of
peoples or individuals on the basis of national
origin or racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are racist, scientifically false, legally invalid,
morally condemnable and socially unjust,
Reaffirming that indigenous peoples, in the exercise of their rights, should be free from discrimination of any kind,
Concerned that indigenous peoples have suffered
from historic injustices as a result of, inter alia, their
colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources, thus preventing them from
exercising, in particular, their right to development
in accordance with their own needs and interests,
Recognizing the urgent need to respect and
promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic
and social structures and from their cultures,
spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies,
especially their rights to their lands, territories
and resources,
Recognizing also the urgent need to respect
and promote the rights of indigenous peoples affirmed in treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements with States,
Welcoming the fact that indigenous peoples are
organizing themselves for political, economic,
social and cultural enhancement and in order to
bring to an end all forms of discrimination and oppression wherever they occur,
Convinced that control by indigenous peoples
over developments affecting them and their
lands, territories and resources will enable them
to maintain and strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions, and to promote their development in accordance with their aspirations and
needs,
Recognizing that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development
and proper management of the environment,
Emphasizing the contribution of the demilitarization of the lands and territories of indigenous
peoples to peace, economic and social progress
and development, understanding and friendly relations among nations and peoples of the world,
Recognizing in particular the right of indigenous
families and communities to retain shared responsibility for the upbringing, training, education and well-being of their children, consistent
with the rights of the child,
Considering that the rights affirmed in treaties,
agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous peoples
are, in some situations, matters of international
concern, interest, responsibility and character,
Considering also that treaties, agreements and
other constructive arrangements, and the relationship they represent, are the basis for a
strengthened partnership between indigenous
peoples and States,
Acknowledging that the Charter of the United
Nations, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights2
and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,2
as
well as the Vienna Declaration and Programme
of Action,3
affirm the fundamental importance of
the right to self-determination of all peoples, by
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2 See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
3 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III |
virtue of which they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social
and cultural development,
Bearing in mind that nothing in this Declaration
may be used to deny any peoples their right to
self-determination, exercised in conformity with
international law,
Convinced that the recognition of the rights of
indigenous peoples in this Declaration will enhance harmonious and cooperative relations between the State and indigenous peoples, based
on principles of justice, democracy, respect for
human rights, non-discrimination and good faith,
Encouraging States to comply with and effectively implement all their obligations as they apply to
indigenous peoples under international instruments, in particular those related to human rights,
in consultation and cooperation with the peoples
concerned,
Emphasizing that the United Nations has an
important and continuing role to play in promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous
peoples,
Believing that this Declaration is a further important
step forward for the recognition, promotion and
protection of the rights and freedoms of indigenous
peoples and in the development of relevant
activities of the United Nations system in this field,
Recognizing and reaffirming that indigenous
individuals are entitled without discrimination to
all human rights recognized in international law,
and that indigenous peoples possess collective
rights which are indispensable for their existence,
well-being and integral development as peoples,
Recognizing that the situation of indigenous
peoples varies from region to region and from
country to country and that the significance of
national and regional particularities and various
historical and cultural backgrounds should be
taken into consideration,
Solemnly proclaims the following United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
as a standard of achievement to be pursued in a
spirit of partnership and mutual respect:
Article 1
Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all
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human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights4 and international human rights law.
Article 2
Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and
equal to all other peoples and individuals and
have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the exercise of their rights, in particular
that based on their indigenous origin or identity.
Article 3
Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their
economic, social and cultural development.
Article 4
Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to
self-determination, have the right to autonomy or
self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for
financing their autonomous functions.
Article 5
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain
and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so
choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.
Article 6
Every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality
Article 7
1. Indigenous individuals have the rights to life,
physical and mental integrity, liberty and security of person.
2. Indigenous peoples have the collective right to
live in freedom, peace and security as distinct
peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of
genocide or any other act of violence, including
forcibly removing children of the group to another group.
Article 8
1. Indigenous peoples and individuals have the
right not to be subjected to forced assimilation
or destruction of their culture.
2. States shall provide effective mechanisms for
prevention of, and redress for:
(a) Any action which has the aim or effect of
depriving them of their integrity as distinct
peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic
identities;
(b) Any action which has the aim or effect of
dispossessing them of their lands, territories
or resources;
(c) Any form of forced population transfer
which has the aim or effect of violating or
undermining any of their rights;
(d) Any form of forced assimilation or integration;
(e) Any form of propaganda designed to promote or incite racial or ethnic discrimination
directed against them.
Article 9
Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right
to belong to an indigenous community or nation,
in accordance with the traditions and customs of
the community or nation concerned. No discrimination of any kind may arise from the exercise of
such a right
Article 10
Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed
from their lands or territories. No relocation shall
take place without the free, prior and informed
consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and
after agreement on just and fair compensation
and, where possible, with the option of return.
Article 11
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to practise
and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future
manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and
performing arts and literature.
2.
States shall provide redress through effective
mechanisms, which may include restitution,
developed in conjunction with indigenous
peoples, with respect to their cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their free, prior and informed consent or in
violation of their laws, traditions and customs.
Article 12
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practise, develop and teach their spiritual and
religious traditions, customs and ceremonies;
the right to maintain, protect, and have access
in privacy to their religious and cultural sites;
the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of
their human remains.
2. States shall seek to enable the access and/or
repatriation of ceremonial objects and human
remains in their possession through fair, transparent and effective mechanisms developed in
conjunction with indigenous peoples concerned.
Article 13
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize,
use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions,
philosophies, writing systems and literatures,
and to designate and retain their own names for
communities, places and persons.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure
that this right is protected and also to ensure
that indigenous peoples can understand and
be understood in political, legal and administrative proceedings, where necessary through
the provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means.
Article 14
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish
and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.
2. Indigenous individuals, particularly children,
have the right to all levels and forms of education of the State without discrimination.
3. States shall, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside their communities, to have
access, when possible, to an education in their
own culture and provided in their own language.
Article 15
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions,
histories and aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.
2. States shall take effective measures, in
consultation and cooperation with the
indigenous peoples concerned, to combat
prejudice and eliminate discrimination and to
promote tolerance, understanding and good
relations among indigenous peoples and all
other segments of society.
Article 16
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish
their own media in their own languages and to
have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure
that State-owned media duly reflect indigenous cultural diversity. States, without prejudice to
ensuring full freedom of expression, should encourage privately owned media to adequately
reflect indigenous cultural diversity
Article 17
1. Indigenous individuals and peoples have the right
to enjoy fully all rights established under applicable international and domestic labour law.
2. States shall in consultation and cooperation
with indigenous peoples take specific measures
to protect indigenous children from economic
exploitation and from performing any work that
is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the
child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s
health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or
social development, taking into account their
special vulnerability and the importance of education for their empowerment.
3. Indigenous individuals have the right not to be
subjected to any discriminatory conditions of labour and, inter alia, employment or salary.
Article 18
Indigenous peoples have the right to participate
in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by
themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their
own indigenous decision-making institutions.
Article 19
States shall consult and cooperate in good faith
with the indigenous peoples concerned through
their own representative institutions in order to
obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.
Article 20
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain
and develop their political, economic and social
systems or institutions, to be secure in the enjoyment of their own means of subsistence and
development, and to engage freely in all their
traditional and other economic activities.
2. Indigenous peoples deprived of their means of
subsistence and development are entitled to
just and fair redress.
Article 21
1. Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia, in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security.
2. States shall take effective measures and, where
appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing improvement of their economic and
social conditions. Particular attention shall be
paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities.
Article 22
1. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights
and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities
in the implementation of this Declaration.
2. States shall take measures, in conjunction with
indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous
women and children enjoy the full protection
and guarantees against all forms of violence
and discrimination.
Article 23
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine
and develop priorities and strategies for exercising their right to development. In particular,
indigenous peoples have the right to be actively
involved in developing and determining health,
housing and other economic and social programmes affecting them and, as far as possible, to
administer such programmes through their own
institutions.
Article 24
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health
practices, including the conservation of their
vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals.
Indigenous individuals also have the right to
access, without any discrimination, to all social
and health services.
2. Indigenous individuals have an equal right to
the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States
shall take the necessary steps with a view to
achieving progressively the full realization of
this right.
Article 25
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and
strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship
with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal
seas and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard.
Article 26
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands,
territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or
acquired.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use,
develop and control the lands, territories and
resources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use, as well as those which they have
otherwise acquired.
3. States shall give legal recognition and protection
to these lands, territories and resources. Such
recognition shall be conducted with due respect
to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.
Article 27
States shall establish and implement, in conjunction with indigenous peoples concerned, a fair,
independent, impartial, open and transparent
process, giving due recognition to indigenous
peoples’ laws, traditions, customs and land tenure
systems, to recognize and adjudicate the rights
of indigenous peoples pertaining to their lands,
territories and resources, including those which
were traditionally owned or otherwise occupied
or used. Indigenous peoples shall have the right
to participate in this process.
Article 28
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to redress,
by means that can include restitution or, when
this is not possible, just, fair and equitable
compensation, for the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned
or otherwise occupied or used, and which
have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used
or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent.
2. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the
peoples concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands, territories and resources equal
in quality, size and legal status or of monetary
compensation or other appropriate redress.
Article 29
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment
and the productive capacity of their lands or
territories and resources. States shall establish
and implement assistance programmes for indigenous peoples for such conservation and
protection, without discrimination.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure
that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories
of indigenous peoples without their free, prior
and informed consent.
3. States shall also take effective measures to ensure, as needed, that programmes for monitoring, maintaining and restoring the health of
indigenous peoples, as developed and implemented by the peoples affected by such materials, are duly implemented.
Article 30
1. Military activities shall not take place in the
lands or territories of indigenous peoples, unless justified by a relevant public interest or
otherwise freely agreed with or requested by
the indigenous peoples concerned.
2. States shall undertake effective consultations with the indigenous peoples concerned,
through appropriate procedures and in particular through their representative institutions,
prior to using their lands or territories for military activities.
Article 31
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain,
control, protect and develop their cultural
heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources,
seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties
of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures,
designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop
their intellectual property over such cultural
heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.
2. In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States
shall take effective measures to recognize and
protect the exercise of these rights.
Article 32
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine
and develop priorities and strategies for the
development or use of their lands or territories
and other resources.
2. States shall consult and cooperate in good
faith with the indigenous peoples concerned
through their own representative institutions in
order to obtain their free and informed consent
prior to the approval of any project affecting
their lands or territories and other resources,
particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.
3. States shall provide effective mechanisms for
just and fair redress for any such activities, and appropriate measures shall be taken to mitigate
adverse environmental, economic, social, cultural or spiritual impact.
Article 33
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions.
This does not impair the right of indigenous
individuals to obtain citizenship of the States
in which they live.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine
the structures and to select the membership of
their institutions in accordance with their own
procedures.
Article 34
Indigenous peoples have the right to promote,
develop and maintain their institutional structures and their distinctive customs, spirituality,
traditions, procedures, practices and, in the cases where they exist, juridical systems or customs,
in accordance with international human rights
standards.
Article 35
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the
responsibilities of individuals to their communities.
Article 36
1. Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided
by international borders, have the right to
maintain and develop contacts, relations and
cooperation, including activities for spiritual,
cultural, political, economic and social
purposes, with their own members as well as
other peoples across borders.
2. States, in consultation and cooperation with
indigenous peoples, shall take effective measures to facilitate the exercise and ensure the
implementation of this right.
Article 37
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance and enforcement of
treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements concluded with States or their
successors and to have States honour and respect such treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.
2. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted
as diminishing or eliminating the rights of indigenous peoples contained in treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.
Article 38
States in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take the appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to achieve
the ends of this Declaration.
Article 39
Indigenous peoples have the right to have access to financial and technical assistance from
States and through international cooperation,
for the enjoyment of the rights contained in this Declaration.
Article 40
Indigenous peoples have the right to access to
and prompt decision through just and fair procedures for the resolution of conflicts and disputes
with States or other parties, as well as to effective
remedies for all infringements of their individual
and collective rights. Such a decision shall give
due consideration to the customs, traditions,
rules and legal systems of the indigenous peoples
concerned and international human rights.
Article 41
The organs and specialized agencies of the United
Nations system and other intergovernmental
organizations shall contribute to the full
realization of the provisions of this Declaration
through the mobilization, inter alia, of financial
cooperation and technical assistance. Ways and
means of ensuring participation of indigenous
peoples on issues affecting them shall be
established.
Article 42
The United Nations, its bodies, including the
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and
specialized agencies, including at the country
level, and States shall promote respect for and
full application of the provisions of this Declaration and follow up the effectiveness of this Declaration.
Article 43
The rights recognized herein constitute the
minimum standards for the survival, dignity and
well-being of the indigenous peoples of the
world.
Article 44
All the rights and freedoms recognized herein
are equally guaranteed to male and female
indigenous individuals.
Article 45
Nothing in this Declaration may be construed
as diminishing or extinguishing the rights indigenous peoples have now or may acquire in the
future.
Article 46
1. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, people, group or
person any right to engage in any activity or to
perform any act contrary to the Charter of the
United Nations or construed as authorizing or
encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States.
2. In the exercise of the rights enunciated in the
present Declaration, human rights and fundamental freedoms of all shall be respected. The
exercise of the rights set forth in this Declaration shall be subject only to such limitations as
are determined by law and in accordance with
international human rights obligations. Any
such limitations shall be non-discriminatory
and strictly necessary solely for the purpose of
securing due recognition and respect for the
rights and freedoms of others and for meeting
the just and most compelling requirements of a
democratic society.
3. The provisions set forth in this Declaration shall
be interpreted in accordance with the principles of justice, democracy, respect for human
rights, equality, non-discrimination, good governance and good faith.
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