The Working Group on Indigenous Populations was established in 1982 as a subsidiary organ of the Commission of Human Rights' Sub Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Authorized by ECOSOC resolution 1982/34, its terms of reference are contained in Subcommission resolution 2 (XXIV) of September 8, 1981.

The Working Group meets for one week immediately before the annual session of the Sub-Commission in Geneva, and has met every year since 1982, except in 1986 when Working Group Chairperson-Rapporteur Ms. Erica-Irene Daes chaired a workshop on Indigenous rights sponsored by the Anti-Slavery Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the World Council of Indigenous People.

The Working Group is made up of five members, one from each geopolitical region of the world. Each member is an independent expert, and a member of the sub commission. For its fifteenth session in 1997, the five members were:

Erica-Irene Daes Ribot Hatano Miguel Alfonso Martinez Volodymyr Boutkevich El-Hadji Guisse

Greece Japan Cuba Ukraine Senegal

The Working Group is open to representatives of all Indigenous peoples and their communities and organizations. Some 700 persons regularly attend the sessions, including observers for Governments and Indigenous peoples' and non-governmental organizations, as well as scholars and academics.

In reviewing national developments, the Working group receives and analyzes written information submitted by governments, specialized agencies, and other organs of the United Nations, other international and regional intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations in consultative status, particularly those of Indigenous peoples.

The Working Group has put special emphasis on the second of its two formal tasks, which are:

• To review national developments pertaining to the promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous peoples; and
• To develop international standards concerning the rights of Indigenous peoples, taking account of both the similarities and the differences in their situations and aspirations throughout the world.

By its resolution 1994-95 of August 26th, 1994, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities adopted the draft declaration and submitted it to the Commission on Human Rights for consideration.

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