Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on the Announcement of U.S. Support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Susan E. Rice
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations 
U.S. Mission to the United Nations 

New York, NY

December 16, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today, I join President Obama in underscoring the United States’ support for the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration is a milestone in the international community’s efforts to identify and address the needs of indigenous peoples around the world, to protect their ways of life and to help their communities to flourish.

After a thorough review, the United States is pleased to join more than 140 countries in support of this Declaration. As the President himself recently said, we believe that, “Together, we can advance the arc of human progress toward a more perfect Union and a more perfect world — one in which each human being lives with dignity, security, and equality.”

Let us continue to work tirelessly to protect the rights of indigenous peoples here and around the world.

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Note: A detailed statement of U.S. support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is available here. You may read President Obama’s remarks at the White House Tribal Nations Conference here.