Statement at the 23rd Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 

“Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Self-determination in the Context of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Emphasizing the Voices of Indigenous Youth”

New York, 16 April 2024

Madam Chair,

The Holy See acknowledges the work of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and would like to offer some reflections on this year’s priority theme.

Firstly, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination, exercised in conformity with international law, which allows them to freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development.

In this endeavor, it is important to recognize the role of indigenous youth as present and future custodians of their culture. Indeed, Pope Francis has encouraged indigenous young people to preserve their cultures and roots by fighting exclusion, waste and impoverishment in order to build a more just and humane world. “Take care of the roots,” the Pope said, “because from the roots comes the strength that will make you grow, prosper and bear fruit.” [1]

Secondly, in the cultural field, indigenous youth often bear their cultural heritage, traditions, and languages. They can actively engage in safeguarding and revitalizing their cultural practices and contribute to the preserving of their communities’ distinct ways of life, which are integral to their right to self-determination.

In the social sphere, indigenous youth serve as bridges between generations, fostering inter-generational dialogue, understanding, and cooperation within their communities.

Thirdly, indigenous youth are also at the forefront in advocating for the protection of ancestral lands, natural resources, and ecosystems, which constitute a key component of indigenous peoples’ identity.

It is important that States continue to engage in dialogue with indigenous peoples, including indigenous youth, to support their efforts to ‘take care of their roots’.

Identity and dialogue are not mutually exclusive; in fact, respect for each another’s identity is essential if there is to be genuine dialogue. Therefore, dialogue that fully respects the rights of indigenous peoples is essential to promote a culture of encounter rather than “a completely enclosed, a-historic, static ‘indigenism’ that would reject any kind of blending.”[2]

Madam Chair,

Allow me to conclude with the words of Pope Francis who insists that “God, the Creator and Father of all peoples and of everything that exists, calls us today to live out and bear witness to our human call to universal fraternity, freedom, justice, dialogue, reciprocal encounter, love and peace, and to avoid fueling hatred, resentment, division, violence and war.”[3]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[1] Pope Francis, Video-message to the participants in the World Indigenous Youth Gathering, Soloy-Panama, 17-21 January 2019.

[2] Pope Francis, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia, 37.

[3] Pope Francis, Address to the participants in the Workshop on “Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and the sciences: Combining knowledge and science on vulnerabilities and solutions for resilience”, 14 March 2024.