The report, published last week, is drafted by James Anaya, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples.
James Anaya calls on the Nordic countries to provide immediate and adequate funding to Sami parliaments to assist in the implementation of concerted measures towards these ends.
Read the report (pdf external link)
Sami issues, along with the Nenets- and Vepsians, are highlighted as one of the cornerstones in the Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation. The Norwegian Barents Secretariat has since its start in 1993 provided funding to cross-border projects for indigenous peoples in Norway and Russia.
Many of the projects are also multi-lateral involving Sami people in Sweden and Finland as well.
Read the webportal of Indigenous Peoples in the Barents Region
The UN special rapporteur is pleased that overall, Norway, Sweden, and Finland each place a high level of attention to indigenous issues, relative to other countries. In many respects, initiatives related to the Sami people in the Nordic countries set important examples for securing the rights of indigenous peoples, the summary of the report reads.
Despite national borders, the Sami continue to exist as one people, united by cultural and linguistic bonds and a common identity. There are nine language groups divided across national borders, but the UN report notes that the wide variety of Sami languages is actually decreasing.
One of the suggestions highlighted in the report is that the states and the Sami Parliaments should cooperate to develop and implement measures to increase and implement measures to increase awareness about the Sami people within the media and the public at large, including in school curricula.
