Coalition Statement | Twenty-fifth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues – Agenda Item 4: Discussion on the six mandated areas of the Permanent Forum (economic and social development, culture, environment, education, health and human rights), with reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
April 24th, 2026
Joint Statement from the Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada including:
Cheryl Knockwood; Grand Chief Edward John (Former Expert Member and Chair of UNPFII North America Region – Indigenous) ; Hup-Wil-Lax-A, Kirby Muldoe; Lea Nicholas-MacKenzie; Mariam Wallet Med Aboubakrine; Professor Sheryl Lightfoot;
Amnistie internationale Canada francophone; British Columbia Assembly of First Nations; British Columbia Treaty Commission; Canadian Friends Service Committee; First Nations Summit; Indigenous World Association; Tl’azt’en Dakleh Nation; Tŝilhqot’in National Government; Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs;
We are pleased to present the following Joint Statement on behalf of the Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada, which brings together a number of Indigenous Nations and organizations, as well as civil society partners in Canada.
This statement addresses the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and we recommend to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues:
- That States should establish, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples, independent monitoring and accountability mechanisms to ensure the full and effective implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Consistent with the requirements of Articles 27 and 40 of the Declaration, such mechanisms must be able to give due regard to the customs, traditions, and legal systems of Indigenous Peoples.
- Furthermore, States must provide such mechanisms with sufficient human and financial resources needed for their development and operation.
The Human Rights Committee recently published their Concluding Observations on the seventh periodic report of Canada, reviewing Canada’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee called on Canada to “redouble its efforts to promote, protect and recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples.”[1]
We couldn’t agree more. In a time when the international human rights system faces extreme challenges, all States must take definitive action to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ human rights and commit the resources necessary to their implementation.
We join the HRC in welcoming Canada’s adoption of national legislation to implement the UN Declaration.[2] Legislation enshrining the Declaration in national law, requiring consistency with the Declaration’s provisions, and mandating collaborative development of national action plans is a vital tool to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ human rights. We encourage all states to develop such legislation, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples.
However, as the Concluding Observations make clear, legislation alone is not sufficient.
The Committee also called on Canada to establish an independent Indigenous Peoples’ human rights monitoring and enforcement mechanism, and to ensure such a mechanism receives sufficient human and financial resources.[3]
The need for such mechanisms is currently being demonstrated in the province of British Columbia, which in 2019 became one of the first jurisdictions in the world to enact the UN Declaration into law. Recently, Indigenous advocates defended this legislation from proposals to suspend key articles. The suspended articles would have included those which permit Indigenous Peoples to hold the government accountable in court for its failure to implement the act and align its laws with the UN Declaration.
Our Nations and organizations believe that independent Indigenous Peoples’ human rights monitoring and enforcement mechanisms are essential to ensuring accountability and transparency in the implementation of the UN Declaration, and would act as a necessary check on the unfettered power of states to treat our human rights as discretionary. As the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has previously stated, all States should work to establish and resource such mechanisms in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples.[4]
[1] CCPR/C/CAN/NO/7, p. 13, para 54.
[2] CCPR/C/CAN/NO/7, p. 13, para 53.
[3] CCPR/C/CAN/NO/7, pp. 13-14, para 54 (b).
[4] A/HRC/EMRIP/2024/2, pp. 18-19, para 9.