OPENING SESSION OF THE TWENTY THIRD SESSION OF  THE UNITED NATIONS PERMANENT FORUM ON INDIGENOUS ISSUES  HINDOU OUMAROU IBRAHIM

*** Excellencies, friends, sisters and brothers, The special theme of this year’s session is "Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ right to self- determination in the context of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: emphasizing the voices of Indigenous youth”. [...] This generation that is the first one to have never known a world without the severe effects of climate change, and that face, everywhere, the mass extinction of biodiversity, whether they are in forest, in the glacial, on the islands or the savannah, in the deserts and mountains, in all our ecosystems. [...] As you take up the role as the leaders of tomorrow, we are confident that your advocacy is rooted in a deep respect for our Indigenous Elders and for the knowledge and wisdom that they have transmitted to us all. [...] This threatens to dilute the distinct collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly the right to exercise our self-determination. [...] Over the last 25 years, we obtain recognition, we lead great battle for our lands, for the recognition of our collective rights, for the respect and the protection of our culture and our knowledge.