The Declaration is structured as a United Nations resolution , with 23 preambular clauses and 46 articles . In most articles , an aspiration for how the State should promote and protect the rights of indigenous people is included ( see Provision for further explanation ) . Major themes of the articles include : The opening and Article 2 of the Declaration provide that “ indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples ” ( source ) . Besides asserting the rights that indigenous individuals and peoples ’ have as other peoples , there are Articles ( 23 of the 46 ) pointing to how States should interact with the declaration . Most of the articles point to States working in conjunction with the indigenous peoples . Some measures countries are suggested to take are The Declaration was over 25 years in the making . The idea originated in 1982 when the UN Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC ) set up its Working Group on Indigenous Populations ( WGIP ) , established as a result of a study by Special Rapporteur José Ricardo Martínez Cobo on the problem of discrimination faced by indigenous peoples . Tasked with developing human rights standards that would protect indigenous peoples , in 1985 the Working Group began working on drafting the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples . The draft was finished in 1993 and was submitted to the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities , which gave its approval the following year . During this the International Labour Organization adopted the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention , 1989
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention , 1989
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples