The General Assembly,
Bearing in mind that one of the purposes of the United Nations set forth in the Charter is the achievement of international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without discrimination as to race, sex, language or religion,
Recognizing and respecting the value and the diversity of cultures, as well as the cultural heritage and the forms of social organization of the world's indigenous people,
Recalling its resolution 45/164 of 18 December 1990, in which it proclaimed 1993 the International Year of the World's Indigenous People, with a view to strengthening international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous communities in areas such as human rights, the environment, development, education and health,
Conscious of the need to improve the economic, social and cultural situation of the indigenous people with full respect for their distinctiveness and their own initiatives,
Appreciative of the contributions made to the voluntary fund for the Year opened by the Secretary-General,
Noting the establishment of the fund for the development of indigenous peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean as one kind of support for the objectives of the Year,
Taking note of the recommendation of the World Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993, that an international decade of the world's indigenous people should be proclaimed,
Noting the need to continue strengthening the initiatives taken as a result of the Year,
Recalling the request to the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities that it should complete its consideration of the draft universal declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples,
1. Calls upon the United Nations system and Governments that have not yet done so to develop policies in support of the objectives and the theme of the International Year of the World's Indigenous People and to strengthen the institutional framework for their implementation;
2. Recommends to all thematic rapporteurs, special representatives, independent experts and working groups that they pay particular attention, within the framework of their mandates, to the situation of indigenous people;
3. Urges the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights to continue to solicit actively the cooperation of specialized agencies, regional commissions, financial and development institutions and other relevant organizations of the United Nations system for the promotion of a programme of activities in support of the objectives and the theme of the Year;
4. Appeals to the specialized agencies, regional commissions and financial and development institutions of the United Nations system to continue to increase their efforts to take into special account the needs of indigenous people in their budgeting and in their programming;
5. Requests:
(a) That reports of the three technical meetings, first provided for in paragraph 8 of General Assembly resolution 46/128 of 17 December 1991, be included in the final assessment proceedings provided for in paragraph 12 of the same resolution and that their conclusions be included in the report of the Coordinator for the Year to be submitted to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session;
(b) That the Commission on Human Rights convene, from within existing resources, a meeting of participants in the programmes and projects of the Year, in the three days preceding the twelfth session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, to report to the Working Group on the conclusions that can be drawn from the activities of the Year with a view to the elaboration of a detailed plan of action and the establishment of a funding plan for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People;
6. Stresses the relevance for the solution of problems faced by indigenous communities of the recommendations contained in chapter 26 of Agenda 21, including their implementation;
7. Notes with satisfaction the holding at Manila of a Global Youth Earth-saving Summit which, by its reaffirmation of the role of traditional cultures in the preservation of the environment, underscored the right to cultural survival;
8. Welcomes the proposal for a gathering of indigenous youth in 1995, an Indigenous Youth Cultural Olympics, as a follow-up to the Year, to be held in conjunction with the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People and the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, to reaffirm the value of traditional cultures, folk arts and rituals as effective expressions of respective national identities and as a foundation for a shared vision for peace, freedom and equality;
9. Stresses that the governmental and intergovernmental activities undertaken within the context of the Year and beyond should take fully into account the development needs of indigenous people and that the Year should contribute to enhancing and facilitating the coordination capabilities of Member States for collecting and analysing information;
10. Notes that there is a continuing need within the United Nations system to aggregate data specific to indigenous people by means of enhancing and facilitating the coordination capabilities of Member States for collecting and analysing such data;
11. Requests the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, at its forty-sixth session, to complete its consideration of the draft universal declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples and to submit its report to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-first session;
12. Requests the Coordinator for Year, in the report to be submitted to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session on the activities developed and the results achieved within the context of the Year, to include an account of the response of the United Nations system to the needs of indigenous people;
13. Expresses its appreciation for the work undertaken for the Year by Governments, the Coordinator for the Year, the International Labour Organisation, the Goodwill Ambassador, Ms. Rigoberta Menchu, indigenous and non-governmental organizations, the Commission on Human Rights and the Working Group on Indigenous Populations.
85th plenary meeting
20 December 1993
