On 15 October 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous People, José Francisco Calí Tzay, gave his final thematic report at 10 am EST to the 3rd Committee, 15th plenary meeting of the General Assembly’s 79th Session in New York. The report was informed by oral interventions from two virtual consultation sessions and a side-event at the UNPFII in April 2024 as well as 7 written submissions from states, 1 from the UNDP, 17 from academia and 28 from individual Indigenous Peoples and NGOs. During his address, the Special Rapporteur dedicated the report to the unique challenges faced by Mobile Indigenous Peoples, a subset of Indigenous Peoples whose mobility is crucial to their identity and lifeways.
The report highlights Mobile Indigenous Peoples’ encounters with racism, lack of recognition, and lack of access to basic services. He emphasized that the enormous existential threats faced by Mobile Indigenous Peoples are immediate, tangible and worsening due to racism, forced assimilation, climate change, and the confiscation of their traditional land and water for large-scale projects, including extractive activities and commercial agriculture. Mobile Indigenous Peoples face barriers to enjoy basic social and economic rights when their lifestyles are not respected. The Special Rapporteur urged all member states to ratify the International Labor Organisation’s Convention 169 without delay and to recognize and protect the customary land tenure practices of Mobile Indigenous Peoples including mobility and its transnational expression.
The presentation of the report was followed by interactive dialogue between representatives of member states and the Special Rapporteur. Seventeen member state representatives made statements during the interactive dialogue. Denmark, on behalf of the Northern Baltic countries, expressed concerns regarding the multiple and systematic human rights violations faced by Mobile Indigenous Peoples due to their mobile lifestyles. This was echoed by several of the states, who asked the Special Rapporteur to elaborate on ways to counteract the exclusion and negative views faced by Mobile Indigenous Peoples. Likewise, states such as Brazil, Malta and Australia asked how to enhance and expand the meaningful participation of Mobile Indigenous Peoples in decision making, including in UN fora. Other states including the USA asked for best practices for addressing cross-border mobility. Several states such as Russia, Tanzania, India, and Indonesia pushed back against the designation of their populations as Indigenous, a key issue that the Special Rapporteur addresses in the report.
The report provides critical insights that will inform the UN’s International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026.