Adopted by the General Assembly, 22 December 2004

On 22 December 2004, the General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/59/174 for a Second International Decade, which commenced on 1 January 2005 and concluded in December 2014.

The Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs was the Coordinator for the Second Decade.

The Decade had five main objectives:

• Promoting non-discrimination and inclusion of indigenous peoples in the design,implementation and evaluation of international, regional and national processes regarding laws, policies, resources, programmes and projects;
• Promoting full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in decisions which directly or indirectly affect their lifestyles, traditional lands and territories, their cultural integrity as indigenous peoples with collective rights or any other aspect of their lives, considering the principle of free, prior and informed consent;
• Redefining development policies that depart from a vision of equity and that are culturally appropriate, including respect for the cultural and linguistic diversity of indigenous peoples;
• Adopting targeted policies, programmes, projects and budgets for the development of indigenous peoples, including concrete benchmarks, and particular emphasis on indigenous women, children and youth;
• Developing strong monitoring mechanisms and enhancing accountability at the international, regional and particularly the national level, regarding the implementation of legal, policy and operational frameworks for the protection of indigenous peoples and the improvement of their lives.

>>> Trust Fund for the Second Decade The Trust Fund for the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples was established to promote, support and implement the objectives of the Decade. The Fund gave priority to projects concerning the main areas of the Second Decade: culture, education, health, human rights, the environment and social and economic development.

>>> Final Report of the Second Decade (pdf) The final report on the achievement of the goal and objectives of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People follows a midterm assessment in 2010 and an assessment in 2012. It provides examples of current efforts to achieve the objectives of the Programme of Action for the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People. One of the major highlights of the Second Decade was the adoption, in 2007, of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The report also provides an analysis of the impact of the Second Decade on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. While there has been some progress in achieving the goals of the Second Decade, a substantial gap remains between the formal recognition of indigenous peoples and the implementation of policies on the ground. The post-2015 development agenda and the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly, to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, afford an opportunity to make indigenous peoples part of the solution and to build a life of dignity, equity and hope for all.

>>> Poster for the Second Decade (pdf)