UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLES ORGANIZATION (UNPO)

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) was founded on February 11, 1991  in The Hague, Netherlands. It claims 61 member groups, which in turn claim to represent more than 200 million people.

UNPO is an international organization of political organisations and governments representing "indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories". The organization educates groups in what channels to use to make their voices heard, and helps defuse tensions so that frustrated groups do not turn to violence to gain attention for their demands.

Despite the "UN" in its acronym, UNPO is an NGO and not an agency of the United Nations.

Although the aspirations of UNPO Members differ greatly, they are all united by one shared condition – they are not adequately represented at major international fora, such as the United Nations. As a consequence, their opportunity to participate on the international stage is significantly limited, as is their ability to access and draw upon the support of the global bodies mandated to defend their rights, protect their environments, and mitigate the effects of conflict.

In today’s world where over 90 percent of conflicts are intra-state, UNPO has been established to fill this gap, providing an international forum through which its Members can become effective participants and contributors to the international community. In an increasingly interdependent world it is ever more important that those who continue to be denied their rights or remain excluded be given an opportunity to present their case. UNPO works therefore to address the consequences of marginalisation, working with its Members to promote their democratic causes, to provide information, and to articulate creative and nonviolent strategies for progress, above all however, UNPO works to ensure their voices are heard.

                   

Although the work of UNPO adapts continually to meet the challenges of its Members and the nature of the international political climate, each Member remains committed to respecting the five principles enshrined in the UNPO Covenant.

AIMS

UNPO declares its aims to be to protect the members' human and cultural rights, preserve their environments, and to find non-violent solutions to conflicts which affect them. UNPO provides a forum for member aspirations and assists its members to participate at an international level.

UNPO members are generally not represented diplomatically (or only with a minor status, such as observer) in major international institutions, such as the United Nations. As a result, their ability to have their concerns addressed by the global bodies mandated to protect human rights and address conflict is limited.

UNPO is dedicated to the five principles enshrined in its Covenant:

§  The equal right to self-determination;

§  Adherence to the internationally accepted human rights standards as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments;

§  Adherence to the principles of democratic pluralism and rejection of totalitarianism and religious intolerance;

§  Promotion of non-violence and the rejection of terrorism as an instrument of policy; and

§  Protection of the natural environment.

All members are required to sign and abide by the UNPO Covenant. They must affirm that they support the principle of nonviolence in their people’s struggle for a peaceful solution and that they apply the democratic methodology as their guiding principle.

MEMBERSHIP                  

Among its member states is our own MOVEMENT FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF THE OGONI PEOPLE.

Participation is open to all Nations and Peoples who are not adequately represented at the UN and whose representative body, as defined in Article 6 of this title fulfils all requirements set out in this title.

The prospective participant has to be a Nation or People, possessing the will to be identified as a Nation or People and is bound to a common heritage which can be historical, racial, ethnic, religious or territorial.

The prospective participant can also be a section of a People, constituting a minority, living on a portion of its ancestral territory, incorporated into a State other than a State represented by that People. 

According to article 7 of the UNPO Covenant, as amended in October 2006:

A Nation or People, through its Representative Body, may apply to become a Participant in the Organization by submitting the following information to the Secretariat for consideration of Membership to the Organization by the Presidency:

a)   A brief history of the Nation or People;

b)   The reasons for the desire to become a Participant in the Organization;

c)    Adequate evidence of the recognition of the Representative Body as an organ of leadership by the people it claims to represent;

d)   A formal declaration of adhesion to the present Covenant and the principle of non-violence;

e)   Evidence of the democratic character of the Representative Body’s leadership structure;

f)     The statute of the Representative Body;

g)    The latest annual financial- and activity report of the Representative Body.

      h) Payment of the application fee.