New Zealand endorses UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and US is reconsidering its position.

On the first day of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues New Zealand announced their intent to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “Upon the announcement, the room exploded with yells, cheers and applause. When the speech finished, there was a chant by the NZ delegation and the crowd again went wild. It was totally amazing” according to Danika B. Littlechild, who was present in the General Assembly hall at the moment of the statement.

New Zealand was one of the four countries to not endorse the declaration at it’s adoption in 2007. Australia was the first of the four to endorse the declaration in 2008. Very hopeful is also the statement from the USA that it will review its position. Canada has also announced that it will endorse the declaration.

New Zealand’s endorsement is an important step forward, but still came with the following qualifications:

“8. In moving to support the Declaration, New Zealand both affirms those rights and reaffirms the legal and constitutional frameworks that underpin New Zealand’s legal system. Those existing frameworks, while they will continue to evolve in accordance with New Zealand’s domestic circumstances, define the bounds of New Zealand’s engagement with the aspirational elements of the Declaration.”

Canada announced similar qualifications for their endorsement. Canadian indigenous peoples’ organizations and human rights organizations have said about these qualifications: ”human rights standards cannot merely condone or sustain the current practices and preferences of states, whether or not those practices and preferences are expressed in domestic law. To limit UN declarations in this way would defeat the purpose of having international standards, which are meant to inspire and guide improved protection for human rights, not simply reinforce the status quo.”

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