Pax Christi International Calls for Meaningful Participation of Indigenous Peoples at the UN Human Rights Council

During the 63rd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, taking place in Geneva from 7 September to 7 October 2026, two statements were delivered on behalf of Pax Christi International. 

The statement delivered during the Interactive Dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) was co-signed by Edmund Rice International, the Company of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, the Istituto Internazionale Maria Ausiliatrice (IIMA) Human Rights Office, VIDES International, Good Shepherd International Justice and Peace (GSIJP), and the Associazione Papa Giovanni XXIII (APG23).

The same organisations, together with the Mouvement International d’Apostolat des Milieux Sociaux Indépendants (MIAMSI), also co-signed the statement delivered during the Annual Panel on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  

The session addresses a broad range of issues relating to the protection of human rights and includes specific discussions on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The two interventions, delivered by Mattia Tosato, PCI Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, contributed to the Human Rights Council’s work on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, with particular attention to their participation in decisions concerning their lands, territories, resources and futures.

 

Annual Panel on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

In the first intervention, delivered during the Annual Panel on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the focus was on the participation of Indigenous women and young people, highlighting their essential role in protecting territories, strengthening social cohesion and transmitting traditional culture and knowledge. As stated in the intervention, “Indigenous women are essential leaders in their communities”, yet they continue to face discrimination and barriers to equal and meaningful participation. Young Indigenous people likewise play a vital role in ensuring the continuity of culture and knowledge, while those who peacefully defend their communities, territories and rights may face intimidation, criminalisation and violence. 

The statement stressed the need to ensure the full and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples in decision-making processes concerning their territories and their future, including through informed consent, and to ensure that Indigenous women, young people and other human rights defenders can participate without facing criminalisation, intimidation or repression. It also referred to the Palestinian people, whose rights to their land, dignity and self-determination must be respected as part of a just and lasting peace. 

Regarding World Heritage, the discussion highlighted how the UNESCO Convention has progressively evolved towards greater recognition of Indigenous Peoples as rights holders and custodians of heritage. The Operational Guidelines increasingly provide space for cooperation and consent, while Indigenous Peoples can submit information on threats to sites, which can be examined through the Convention’s monitoring mechanisms and brought to the attention of the World Heritage Committee. The connection between the work of the Human Rights Council in Geneva and that of UNESCO in Paris highlights the importance of greater dialogue between different United Nations mechanisms in safeguarding Indigenous rights and cultural and natural heritage.

 

Interactive dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP)

In the second intervention, delivered during the Interactive Dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Pax Christi International linked the defence of Indigenous territories to peacebuilding. The central message was that “Struggles for land, water and the protection of nature are also struggles for peace”: when communities directly affected by decisions are excluded from meaningful participation, or when those who peacefully defend their territories are criminalised, conflicts can deepen. 

The EMRIP study on the rights of Indigenous Peoples in conflict and post-conflict situations reinforces this approach by adopting a broader understanding of conflict that goes beyond armed violence and includes the conditions that can generate or prolong it, such as historical injustices, dispossession of land and resources, denial of self-determination, systemic inequalities and environmental degradation. The study therefore places the protection of Indigenous Peoples within a broader framework connecting human rights, humanitarian law, environmental protection and transitional justice. 

As highlighted in the intervention, “Genuine multilateralism, embodied by the UN, must ensure that those most affected have a voice”: addressing conflict and building sustainable peace also means ensuring that affected communities can participate in decisions concerning their future.

 

Both documents also refer to the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, underlining the importance of ensuring that peoples have a meaningful say in decisions affecting their future. 

In both interventions, we sought to emphasise the importance of participation in building a just peace. We call on States to protect Indigenous human rights defenders from criminalisation and intimidation; to guarantee the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and young people; and to uphold the principle of free, prior and informed consent in decisions concerning lands, territories and resources, in line with the framework of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.