Indigenous Women Offer Pathways for Transformation at the 2025 UN Permanent Forum

From April 21 to May 2, 2025, the 24th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII24) was held at the UN Headquarters in New York. Under the theme "Implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Best Practices and Challenges," this year's session marked a milestone with the launch of a High-Level Interregional, Intergenerational, and Global Dialogue dedicated to the rights of Indigenous Women.

This initiative recognized that building a sustainable future requires fully integrating Indigenous Women’s voices, proposals, and leadership into all levels of decision-making, drawing from their ancestral knowledge and enduring resilience.

Recognizing Achievements and Opening New Pathways

The dialogue gathered women leaders from different generations and territories, including Lena Yanina Estrada, Colombia’s Minister of Environment; Autumn Peltier, young water protector from the Anishnabek Nation; Tarcila Rivera Zea, founder of CHIRAPAQ and a key figure in the global Indigenous movement; Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women; and Teresa Zapeta, Executive Director of the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI).

Their interventions revealed a clear consensus: Indigenous Women not only safeguard cultures and territories, they also lead solutions to today’s global challenges.

"We are owners of our territories, not merely guardians. Defenders of life. Builders of peace," said Minister Estrada, highlighting the central role Indigenous Women play in environmental and community defense.

This recognition stems not from assistance, but from a collaborative vision where Indigenous Women are strategic partners in co-creating public policies, development strategies, and climate action mechanisms.

A Story of Resistance and Vision

Tarcila Rivera Zea brought historical depth to the dialogue.
Drawing on decades of experience defending the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Women, she emphasized that the path taken has been not only one of resistance, but also of active and articulated proposals.

"Indigenous Women do not start from nothing. We have built from our roots up, offering strategies for a dignified and sustainable life."

Rivera Zea stressed that strengthening intergenerational leadership is key to ensuring that new generations continue expanding decision-making spaces, taking local struggles into global transformation arenas.

Thus, the history of Indigenous Women projects itself as a living legacy that continues to weave future possibilities.

Toward Full and Effective Participation

Complementing this perspective, Teresa Zapeta emphasized the need to advance toward frameworks of genuine and respectful participation:

"We are not a topic. We are rights holders."

Zapeta underlined that truly integrating Indigenous Women means not only listening to their voices but actively involving them in building solutions, ensuring direct access to resources, respect for their knowledge systems, and the strengthening of their organizational autonomy.

She reaffirmed that authentic partnerships are based on mutual recognition and horizontal collaboration, not on symbolic inclusion or assistance-based approaches.

Five Pathways for Collective Action

The dialogue outlined five key areas for joint progress:

• Recognize and expand progress: Indigenous leadership in political spaces, protection of traditional knowledge, and advancements in collective rights.
  
• Overcome persistent challenges: Address structural discrimination, violence, barriers to education and justice, and the impacts of climate change.
  
• Encourage concrete actions by States: Strengthen legal frameworks, guarantee effective participation, and design culturally appropriate public policies.
  
• Foster collaboration with UN agencies: Fund Indigenous-led initiatives, facilitate participation in global forums, and support justice and territorial sovereignty.
  
• Project the Indigenous movement into the future: Strengthen young leadership, build global alliances, and maintain the transmission of ancestral knowledge.
  

Toward Shared Responsibility

The construction of a shared future does not rest solely on Indigenous communities; it calls for a shared responsibility among States, the United Nations, social movements, and society as a whole.

"We don't want to be here just for the photo. We want to be active participants in building solutions and shaping the future," expressed the Indigenous women leaders.

The UNPFII reaffirmed that working with Indigenous Women is not only a matter of human rights—it is a strategic opportunity to build more comprehensive and sustainable responses to global challenges.

Conclusion: Walking Together Toward a Sustainable Future

The 24th session of the UN Permanent Forum left a clear message: the future of human rights, environmental sustainability, and social justice are deeply intertwined with the full recognition of Indigenous Women as fundamental partners.

"Our story does not die. Our voice does not fade. It will endure like the wind."
— Anastasiya Candre, Indigenous poet from the Colombian Amazon

Today, more than ever, genuine collaboration with Indigenous Women opens the path to building just, diverse, and resilient societies, in deep harmony with Mother Earth and in full respect for the diversity of Peoples.