A/76/202
mandate holders in the context of country visits and communications with regard to
alleged human rights violations.
6.
Concern over the situation of indigenous peoples living in urban areas has been
raised by other United Nations bodies, human rights mechanisms and specialized
agencies of the United Nations system. The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing
as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to
non-discrimination in this context, issued a report on the situation of indigenous
peoples in 2019, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues addressed the
implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples in a report on migration and urbanization of indigenous peopl es in 2021 and
the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples prepared a thematic study
on indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of borders, migration and displacement
in 2019. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN -Habitat) has also
issued policy guidance reports on indigenous peoples in urban areas. 1
A.
Legal framework
7.
The human rights situation of indigenous peoples living in urban areas must be
understood and addressed within the international legal framework provided by the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Indigenous and
Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), of ILO and international and regional
human rights instruments. Those international legal sources recognize indigenous
peoples’ rights to their traditional lands, territories, natural resources, self -government,
self-determination and way of life, which form the basis of their collective identity
and their physical, economic and cultural survival. Understanding the nature of those
internationally recognized rights is necessary to provide access to essential services
and other human rights guarantees for indigenous peoples living in urban areas.
8.
Indigenous peoples living in urban areas are entitled to internationally
recognized human rights, including the individual and collective rights enshrined in
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In particular,
articles 3, 4 and 18 recognize the rights to self-determination, autonomy and selfgovernment, to participate in decision-making processes and to consultation and free,
prior and informed consent (art. 19, in particular). The Declaration also recognizes
economic, social and cultural rights, in particular in articles 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 23 and
24, and the right to land and territories, in articles 25 to 28 and 32. Of particular
importance in the process of urbanization are the right to self -identification (arts. 9
and 33) and the right to exercise and preserve culture and spirituality (arts. 12, 31
and 34).
9.
With regard to the right to education, paragraph 3 of article 14 is of particular
relevance for indigenous peoples living in urban areas. It stipulates that “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
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1
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See the update on the promotion and application of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples (E/C.19/2021/6); the thematic study on indigenous peoples’ rights
(A/74/183); and the study on indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of borders, migration and
displacement (A/HRC/EMRIP/2019/2/Rev.1). UN-Habitat has considered the issue in a series of
reports: Securing Land Rights for Indigenous Peoples in Cities: Policy Guide to Secure Land
Rights for Indigenous Peoples in Cities (Nairobi, 2011); Urban Indigenous Peoples and
Migration: A Review of Policies, Programmes and Practices (Nairobi, 2010); and Housing
Indigenous Peoples in Cities: Urban Policy Guides for Indigenous Peoples (Nairobi, 2009). The
International Organization for Migration has published Indigenous Routes: A Framework for
Understanding Indigenous Migration (Geneva, 2008).
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