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The 10th Annual United Nations Student Conference on Human Rights (UNSCHR) took place 5-7 December 2007. The theme for 2007 was “Recognising the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. This conference supports the goals of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, which aims to strengthen cooperation for finding solutions to problems faced by indigenous peoples
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| Students perform a cultural dance |
Indigenous peoples are entitled to enjoy all existing human rights. Such rights are set out in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948). United Nations committees which oversee the implementation of binding agreements - the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990), which includes specific provisions relating to indigenous people – consider indigenous issues when examining reports by States on their performance under these treaties.
However, too many indigenous people find themselves in positions where their basic human rights are violated daily. On 29 June 2006, the Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with a view to eliminating human rights violations endured by over 370 million indigenous people worldwide.
After twenty years of debate, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was finally adopted by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007 after 143 Member States voted in favor, 11 abstained and four – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States – voted against it. The Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions. It also prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full participation in all matters that concern them, and their right to pursue their own visions of economic and social development.
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| Students work in drafting groups at the UN International School |
During the 2007 UN Students Human Rights Conference, students learned about indigenous people and their important contributions to society globally, highlighting the significance of this action towards achieving a just and non-discriminatory international human rights policy, and encouraging Member States to implement the Declaration at the national level.
The 2007 UNSCHR conference united 69 youth from around the world at the UN Headquarters in New York for discussion, collaboration, and action related to the rights of indigenous peoples. Each co-sponsor will bring up to 12 student representatives to New York to participate. Many others will join through videoconferencing and web-casting.
Prior to the conference, participants conducted their own research on universal human rights and those specific to indigenous peoples, and share their ideas across cultures through a web-based forum on the UN Cyberschoolbus website. In addition, participants interacted, for the first time, with indigenous representatives and with each other through the use of live video chats during the months leading up to the conference. A schedule of live video chats will be posted soon.
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| Students are connected all day for the international videoconference |
During the conference, student representatives in New York will work with students from other countries participating by videoconferencing and web-casting to develop a consensus on these issues and draft a Plan of Action. The President of the UN General Assembly will be asked to be present at the end of the final day of the conference to accept the Plan of Action from the chairperson of the conference and, as in past years, request its dissemination to UN Member States.
**The above information is paraphrased from the United Nations Cyberschoolbus website.**
Read the final Student Plan of Action - Click here (Adobe Reader required)
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