Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver) — The First Nations Summit respectfully acknowledges the 18th commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, which will be held on Thursday, August 9, 2012 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Official statements will be delivered on behalf of the Chairperson of the NGO Committee on the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Roberto Múcaro Borrero (Taíno, Puerto Rico); the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon; the Under-Secretary- General for Economic and Social Affairs and Coordinator of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Wu Hongbo; the Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Grand Chief Edward John (Tl’azt’en, Canada), and others.

At the conclusion of the statements an interactive dialogue on the theme of this year’s International Day, which is “Indigenous Media, Empowering Indigenous Voices” will take place.