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<P align="justify"> The WGIP was fou … <P align="justify"> The WGIP was founded in 1982 and it operates under the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. The function of the working group is to monitor progress in the promotion and protection of the human rights and basic freedoms of indigenous peoples and to observe the development of standards concerning their rights. The Working Group includes experts and members from the Commission, but it is also open to all organizations of indigenous peoples and their representatives as well as to other non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations was set up in 1985 in order to provide financial support for the participation of as many as possible indigenous peoples in the Working Group. The number of participants in the sessions has grown to record levels over the years: for example, over 900 representatives registered for the 2002 session, and only a fraction of them were representatives of governments. The sessions have dealt with various subjects: for example, health; the environment, land rights and lasting development; education and language; women and children; and the right to participation. The theme of the 2001 session was Indigenous populations and their right to development, including the right to participate in development that concerns them. The main topic of the 2002 session was the future of the Working Group and its relationship to the new Permanent Forum of Indigenous Populations under the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN. The indigenous peoples supported the continuation of the Working Group for many reasons, but also simply because the Working Group and the [[Permanent forum|Permanent Forum]] had different mandates, and the former was needed in the context of human rights as a body that actively developed norms in human rights. The expert members of the Working Group were also in favour of continuation because of the international achievements of the group. The most important of these achievements was probably the draft for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Populations, which was drawn up by the Working Group between 1982 and 1993. The draft provides the basis for current negotiations in a separate working group established in 1995. Another of the major achievements of the Working Group has been the launching and reinforcement of the international movement of indigenous peoples. For about twenty years it has provided a good opportunity for networking between indigenous peoples and in this way it has fostered the development of cooperation between them. The Working Group has thus had an educational and instructive influence. One concrete achievement has been the report on the land rights of indigenous peoples drawn up by the former chairperson and expert member of the group, Erica-Irene Daes. Her other work in the group has also been recognized, for in the 2002 session she was made an honourable member of the group for life. This nomination was in recognition of her outstanding and steadfast work to obtain recognition for the position of indigenous peoples and to further human rights. Ever since its foundation, the Working Group has sought to promote the important concept of peoples rather than those expressed by people or population . This concept accords with the firm goals of the peoples themselves.</P><BR>he peoples themselves.</P><BR> +
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