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Saami
and the United Nations |
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Arguably the most important international
influence by the Saami has been felt at the United Nations. The
Saami were instrumental in the formation of nearly all aspects of
the United Nations that dealt with indigenous issues. (Nystad,
2002) |
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The Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues is a long awaited advisory committee placed directly under
ECOSOC. Its mandate is to, “review developments pertaining to
the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms of indigenous peoples. [The Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues is] to give attention to the evolution of international
standards concerning indigenous rights.” (UN, 1982) The PFII can
be seen as the most significant achievement for indigenous peoples
at the international level. Now indigenous leaders can voice their
concerns and issues in a venue where they have to be heard. The
only way that they can be silenced is if the Permanent Forum were
dissolved.
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The
first person to come up with the idea of the Permanent Forum was
Lars Anders Baer. A Swedish Saami, Lars Anders Baer is a long time
activist in national and international Saami politics. At
ECOSOC’s forty-ninth session of the Commission on Human Rights,
Mr. Baer proposed that, “The institutional framework of the UN
must also be strengthened in view of the increasing importance of
issues affecting indigenous peoples; that could be done by
creating a permanent advisory body within the UN consisting of
representatives of indigenous peoples themselves.” (UN, 1993,
14) In addition, John Bernard Henriksen proposed the current
structure of the Permanent Forum. (Nystad, 2002) John Henriksen is
a Saami and advisor in the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. In 1994,
Mr. Henriksen was a representative and legal advisor for the
Nordic Saami Council to the United Nations. (Henriksen, 2002)
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