The Permanent Quest for a Mandate: Assessing the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to critique the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from the point of view of its (self-declared) role as the implementing body of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our main concern lies with what the activities of the Permanent Forum entail with regard to the scope and substance of Indigenous rights, with a focus on human rights as distinct from a group right of self-determination. The article hinges on a detailed analysis of the processes through which the Permanent Forum has sought to create and define its own mandate. These processes have involved a marginalisation or co-option of ʻotherʼ voices in the field of Indigenous r..