I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of Denmark with
Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and my own country, Norway.
We appreciate the discussions during this Permanent Forum and would like to
particularly highlight the theme of this year; emphasizing the voices of
Indigenous youth, which in our view is very timely. We cannot have a
constructive dialogue on Indigenous issues without Indigenous youth
participation.
We also welcome the further work ahead of us on enhancing the participation
of Indigenous people’s representatives and institutions in meetings of relevant
UN bodies on issues affecting them. We have on several occasions expressed
our support for greater participation, bringing added legitimacy and
sustainability to the decisions adopted by the United Nations.
The United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 74/135 proclaimed the
period of 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to
draw attention to the critical loss of indigenous languages and the urgent need
to preserve, revitalize and promote indigenous languages and to take urgent
steps at the national and international levels.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank UNESCO and the members of the
Global Task Force for their efforts to organize the International Decade of
Indigenous Languages.
We are doing what we can to make this decade a joint global effort to save and
strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ languages. We are soon approaching the
second half of the decade.
The permanent forum is a unique arena where indigenous voices from all over
the world are gathered. We recommend that next year, this forum can discuss
our progress and how we can move forward during the International Decade of
Indigenous Languages.
Thank you for your attention.