The date marks the day of
the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group
on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on the
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
The UN General Assembly
had proclaimed 1993 the International Year of the World’s
Indigenous People, and the same year, the Assembly proclaimed
the International
Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, starting
on 10 December 1994 (Resolution
48/163). The goal of the First Decade was to strengthen
international cooperation for solving problems faced
by indigenous people in such areas as human rights,
the environment, development, education and health.
In 2004, the UN General
Assembly proclaimed a Second International Decade of
the World’s Indigenous Peoples through Resolution
59/174. The goal of the Second Decade is to further
the "strengthening of international cooperation
for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people
in such areas as culture, education, health, human rights,
the environment, and social and economic development,
by means of action-oriented programs and specific projects,
increase technical assistance, and relevant standard-setting
activities".
