Plenary Session - 24 July 2003

The afternoon session of the plenary meeting started with the presentation of Mr. Guissé on the First Draft of recommendations on Globalization and Indigenous People (4b). He suggested that the Working Group should write studies as well as organize workshops, draft minimum standards and create a virtual working group (VWG) that would discuss in great detail the main topic of the conference.

When the floor opened for a general discussion, several deputies of the Working Group as well as delegates of governments presented their opinions on the first draft. Most speakers argued for a more concise version of the Draft, since they thought that the 18 points could overinflate the agenda of next year's conference. While Mr. Yakota pointed out that a significant number of indigenous groups lack the means to access the internet and thus could not participate in the virtual working group, other delegates suggested that only one study should be made, the various recommendations serving as chapters in the paper. In his intervention, Mr. Parry pointed out that the recommendations did not name the responsible agents for the negative developments of globalization (i.e. transnational corporate companies). The Canadian government delegate suggested that the indigenous people should put forward their views to the upcoming World Summit of Information Society organized in Geneva at the end of this year (which received enthusiastic approval of Ms Mottoc, member of the Working Group).The delegate of UNDP urged the working group to also focus on the opportunities created by globalization rather than stick exclusively to the negative consequences of the new era. The agenda item 4b was concluded by Mr. Guissé's intervention (which welcomed all changes to the first draft) because, as he stressed it, the recommendations are and should be the joint effort of all members.

The meeting continued with the presentation of Mr. Yokota on the cooperation between the Working Group and other UN bodies (6a), namely with the two newly installed mechanisms of the Special Rapporteur and the Permanent Forum. In his subsequent intervention, Mr. Martinez, the President of the Working Group, stated that although he thinks that the newly created mandate of the UN bodies are complementary to that of the Working Group, it might be still possible that the definitive decision will do away with the present form of the Working Group early next year. Most speakers agreed with the complementary nature of the three UN bodies and stressed the need of dialogue and partnership between them.

By: Anna Magyarosi

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