United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

What it says, article by article

• Article 1

  Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, collectively or individually, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized in the UN Charter, the UDHR, and international human rights law.

• Article 2

  Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all others and have the right to be free from discrimination based on their indigenous origin or identity.

• Article 3

  Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination, freely determining their political status and pursuing their economic, social, and cultural development.

• Article 4

  Indigenous peoples have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, including means to finance their autonomous functions.

• Article 5

  Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct institutions while retaining the right to participate fully in the state's political, economic, social, and cultural life.

• Article 6

  Every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality.

• Article 7

  Indigenous individuals have the rights to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty, and security, and indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace, and security, free from genocide or the forcible removal of their children.

• Article 8

  Indigenous peoples have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture, with states providing redress for cultural dispossession, forced population transfer, or discriminatory propaganda.

• Article 9

  Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to belong to an indigenous community or nation according to its traditions, without discrimination.

• Article 10

  Indigenous peoples must not be forcibly removed from their lands, and any relocation requires free, prior, and informed consent, agreement on just compensation, and where possible the option of return.

• Article 11

  Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs, with states providing redress for cultural or spiritual property taken without free, prior, and informed consent.

• Article 12

  Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practise, and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, maintain access to religious and cultural sites, and have their human remains repatriated.

• Article 13

  Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize and transmit their histories, languages, and oral traditions to future generations and to designate their own names for communities, places, and persons.

• Article 14

  Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their own educational institutions in their own languages, and indigenous individuals have the right to all levels of state education without discrimination.

• Article 15

  Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures reflected in education and public information, and states must combat prejudice and promote tolerance.

• Article 16

  Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in their own languages and equal access to non-indigenous media without discrimination.

• Article 17

  Indigenous individuals and peoples have the right to enjoy all rights under applicable labour law, and states must protect indigenous children from economic exploitation.

• Article 18

  Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters affecting their rights through representatives they themselves choose.

• Article 19

  States must consult and cooperate in good faith with indigenous peoples to obtain their free, prior, and informed consent before adopting measures that may affect them.

• Article 20

  Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain their own political, economic, and social systems and to be secure in their means of subsistence, with just redress owed to those deprived of it.

• Article 21

  Indigenous peoples have the right to improvement of their economic and social conditions, with particular attention to the rights and needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children, and persons with disabilities.

• Article 22

  Particular attention must be paid to the rights of indigenous elders, women, youth, children, and persons with disabilities, and states must ensure indigenous women and children full protection against violence and discrimination.

• Article 23

  Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for their own development, including health, housing, and economic programmes, administered as far as possible through their own institutions.

• Article 24

  Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and health practices, including conservation of vital medicinal plants and resources, and an equal right to the highest attainable standard of health.

• Article 25

  Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned lands, territories, and waters, and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations.

• Article 26

  Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories, and resources they have traditionally owned, occupied, or used, and states must give these legal recognition and protection respecting indigenous customs and land tenure systems.

• Article 27

  States must establish a fair, independent, and transparent process, with indigenous peoples' participation, to recognize and adjudicate their rights to lands, territories, and resources.

• Article 28

  Indigenous peoples have the right to redress, including restitution or just compensation, for lands and resources confiscated, taken, or damaged without their free, prior, and informed consent.

• Article 29

  Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and productive capacity of their lands, and states must not store hazardous materials on indigenous lands without free, prior, and informed consent.

• Article 30

  Military activities must not take place on indigenous peoples' lands unless justified by relevant public interest or freely agreed with the indigenous peoples concerned.

• Article 31

  Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, genetic resources, seeds, medicines, and traditional cultural expressions, including intellectual property over them.

• Article 32

  Indigenous peoples have the right to determine priorities for developing their lands and resources, and states must obtain free and informed consent before approving projects affecting indigenous lands, particularly resource extraction.

• Article 33

  Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity and membership according to their customs, without impairing individuals' right to state citizenship.

• Article 34

  Indigenous peoples have the right to promote and maintain their institutional structures, customs, spirituality, and juridical systems, in accordance with international human rights standards.

• Article 35

  Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the responsibilities of individuals to their communities.

• Article 36

  Indigenous peoples divided by international borders have the right to maintain contacts and cooperation across those borders for spiritual, cultural, political, economic, and social purposes.

• Article 37

  Indigenous peoples have the right to recognition and enforcement of treaties and agreements concluded with states, and nothing in the Declaration diminishes rights contained in such treaties.

• Article 38

  States must take appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to achieve the ends of the Declaration in consultation with indigenous peoples.

• Article 39

  Indigenous peoples have the right to financial and technical assistance from states and international cooperation for the enjoyment of the Declaration's rights.

• Article 40

  Indigenous peoples have the right to access just and fair procedures for resolving disputes with states, with due consideration given to indigenous customs and international human rights.

• Article 41

  UN organs and specialized agencies must contribute to the full realization of the Declaration through financial cooperation and technical assistance.

• Article 42

  The UN, its bodies including the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and states must promote respect for and follow up on the Declaration's effectiveness.

• Article 43

  The rights recognized in the Declaration constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and well-being of the world's indigenous peoples.

• Article 44

  All rights and freedoms recognized in the Declaration are equally guaranteed to male and female indigenous individuals.

• Article 45

  Nothing in the Declaration may be construed as diminishing or extinguishing rights indigenous peoples have now or may acquire in future.

• Article 46

  Nothing in the Declaration implies any right to act contrary to the UN Charter or to impair the territorial integrity of sovereign states, and its provisions must be interpreted in accordance with justice, democracy, human rights, equality, non-discrimination, and good faith.