In an address to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Vatican deplored the postponement of the adoption of the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Below are extarcts from a statement delivered by the Vatican to the Sixth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, held from 14-25 May 2007 in New York.

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The postponement of the adoption of the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP) marked a disappointing moment.

After 24 years' discussion in a working group of the Commission on Human Rights, the draft declaration was taken up at the first session of the Human Rights Council and, after a recorded vote, was duly sent to the General Assembly for adoption as part of the first Report of the Human Rights Council.

My delegation would like to express its regret that the adoption of the draft declaration was postponed. In this regard, we would like to draw attention to the benefits which the existence of such a human rights instrument would entail especially for the very poorest living in rural areas, often of indigenous origin and often marginalized by the modern world, and those who could be empowered to contribute much more to the political and economic life where they live.

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