A/79/160
I. Introduction
1.
The present report is submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of
Indigenous Peoples, José Francisco Calí Tzay, pursuant to Human Rights Council
resolution 51/16.1 In the report, the Special Rapporteur considers the unique challenges
faced by mobile Indigenous Peoples, such as pastoralists, herders, hunter-gatherers,
seafarers and Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact, and
outlines the initiatives undertaken by States, Indigenous Peoples and other
stakeholders to recognize and respect their rights.
2.
In the course of preparing the report, the Special Rapporteur issued a call for
input to Member States, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, academics and
non-governmental organizations. He expresses his gratitude for all those who
provided written contributions, 53 in total, as well as 33 oral interventions from
virtual consultations; the report also incorporates input from presentations during a
side event at the twenty-third session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
held in 2024,, and from the outcome document of an expert seminar hosted by Russian
Indigenous Peoples. 2 The Special Rapporteur also reviewed official United Nations
documents and thematic studies and drew on information gathered during country
visits.
II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur
3.
Following the submission of his previous report (A/78/162) to the General
Assembly, the Special Rapporteur carried out an official visit to Colombia. He
participated in the annual meetings of the Permanent Forum, the Expert Mechanism
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Conference of the Parties to the Un ited
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
III. Mobile Indigenous Peoples
4.
Mobile Indigenous Peoples are a distinct subset of Indigenous Peoples who self identify as Indigenous under international law. 3 Moving and changing residence
strategically within extensive homelands, they typically occupy fragile ecosystems of
high ecological value. Mobile peoples’ lifestyles and livelihoods often depend on
long-term cyclical patterns of subsistence, the use of common resources and
management strategies that maintain biodiversity. 4 They live on every continent and
in all landscapes, including oceans, seas, rivers, mountains, grasslands, forests and
deserts. The designation mobile Indigenous Peoples generally describes the specific
subgroups of Indigenous Peoples mentioned below in ter ms that are sometimes used
interchangeably.
5.
The present report adopts the terminology “mobile” Indigenous Peoples over
“nomad”. Although “nomad” is still used and is being reclaimed as a form of
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The Special Rapporteur thanks the faculty and students at the University of Arizona for their
assistance with the research, analysis and drafting. They bear no responsibility for the final
content. He also wishes to thank the University of Oxford for organizing the vi rtual consultation
and side event.
Outcome document of the expert seminar on the nomadic and semi -nomadic Indigenous Peoples
of the Russian Federation, Salekhard, Russian Federation, 9 and 10 March 2024.
See the non-exhaustive list of mobile Indigenous Peoples compiled by Yurta Association.
Available at http://www.nomadicpeople.org/about-nomads.html.
World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples, see https://wamipglobal.com/about-us/; Argentina
submission; Yurta Association submission.
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