The statement was delivered by Yon Fernández de Larrinoa, Head of the FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit, at the Plenary of the 25th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), on the 24 April 2026.

On the eve of UNDRIP’s 20th anniversary, it is more important than ever to recognize FPIC as the starting point for just and meaningful engagement with Indigenous Peoples. Respecting FPIC is the only way to work together with consent, putting Indigenous Peoples at the centre of the discussion and decision-making. FAO is well aware of this: since 2010, FPIC has been incorporated in its Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and, since 2015, the Organisation has made FPIC compulsory in any projects that have an impact on Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous nomadic pastoralists are key actors for food security, biodiversity conservation and for combatting desertification. Their food and knowledge systems are based on millennia of experience and deep connection to the territories they wisely roam. They produce abundant, nutritious, and healthy foods in every region of the world. Nevertheless, their rights are often not respected, endangering their ways of life, knowledge and at times their very survival.

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a fundamental collective right of Indigenous Peoples. This right is the basis for the implementation of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP): the most significant milestone in the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. On the eve of UNDRIP’s 20th anniversary, it is more important than ever to recognize FPIC as the starting point for just and meaningful engagement with Indigenous Peoples.

The workshop was held in Accra, Ghana, from 7 to 10 April 2026. With this event, Ghana is taking the lead in the profiling of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems in Africa. It is also the first time that the Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration Global Programme lands in this socio-cultural region, where it projects to expand its activities in the future. 

The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) will gather hundreds of Indigenous Peoples’ representatives from all seven socio-cultural regions of the world. FAO will meaningfully participate to the discussions with two side-events and delivering a statement in the plenary.

For the first time, FAO convenes a global workshop to integrate Indigenous Peoples’ Fire Management into the Global Programme on Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration, bringing together 50 knowledge holders, elders, women and youth from six out of seven socio-cultural regions at the Tama Páez Indigenous Reserve “La Gabriela”

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a fundamental collective right of Indigenous Peoples. In 2019, FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit established the FPIC Donors Task Force to improve the implementation of this right on the ground. This Task Force met in FAO in February 2026 to assess the status of FPIC implementation and its challenges, paving the way for improvements in how this right is understood and operationalized.

As 2025 draws to an end, the UN Rome Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples met to analyse the results of the work done this year and look into strengthened commitment to continue supporting FAO’s work with Indigenous Peoples in 2026. 

In the occasion of the 80^th Anniversary of FAO and during the World Food Day week, the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food and Knowledge Systems called its experts to its third in-person meeting. The relevance of this third meeting was marked by the first time ever visit of Chief Deskaheh to FAO to provide guidance and bless the opening of the HOPE Indigenous Peoples room at FAO Museum. 

On the eve of UNFCCC COP30, UN Secretary General António Guterres held a first ever exclusive interview with an Indigenous journalist from the Amazon, during which he stressed the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ in protecting biodiversity and tackle climate change.

Rome – The Global Programme on Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration is ...

In 2021, a pilot project in Sanikiluaq, an Inuit Indigenous Peoples’ community in Nunavut, was able to locate previously undiscovered fishing locations thanks to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) model that integrates traditional Indigenous Peoples knowl...

The Indigenous Peoples’ Advisory Group is now launching a call for applications for the “We support HOPE” group: an Indigenous Peoples’ vision of the world. The group aims at gathering experience, knowledge, audiovisual materials and artifacts from like-minded museums and collections.  

Indigenous Peoples are amongst the best stewards of the oceans. Their longstanding relationship with the world’s oceans provided them with a deep knowledge of the oceans’ ecology and how they behave and change. For many Indigenous Peoples, seas and oceans mean life, food, connection, culture, freedom of movement, embedded knowledge, a look into innovations and deep spiritual connections. The relationship between Indigenous Peoples and oceans is one of care, respect and reciprocity. And this has also been recognised in the Third UN Oceans Conference (UNOC3) held in Nice, France, in June 2025. 

For thousands of years Indigenous Peoples have used fire to sustainably manage their lands, territories and natural resources. As ecological stewards, Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and practices of fire management are deeply rooted in their comprehensive understanding of the land and ecosystem cycles, as well as spiritual and cultural values. Their practices have an important role in protecting biodiversity, cultural diversity, enhancing food security and reducing wildfire risks and threats within their lands and territories.

The FAO/WHO Task Force on the Review of the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management (ICCPM) is pleased to launch a global questionnaire designed specifically for Indigenous Peoples. This questionnaire aims to gather your perspectives, experiences, and concerns related to pesticide use and management, and to ensure that Indigenous Peoples right to a Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is fully respected.

As the world faces a mounting ecological crisis, marked by the rapid degradation of ecosystems, biodiversity loss, and advancing desertification, an ambitious initiative is lighting a path forward: the Indigenous Peoples’ Biocentric Restoration Global Programme