The second phase of the draft declaration process was initiated by Resolution 1919 of the General Assembly on June 10, 2003, which urged the Working Group to begin negotiation meetings involving state member and civil society participation towards finding consensus on the draft declaration. These negotiations were based on a new revised text - the Working Group Chair's Consolidated Text - and proposals submitted by member state delegations and indigenous representatives, among others.
Within the framework of these meetings, both state members and indigenous representatives were allowed to submit proposals related to the articles that comprise the Chair's Consolidated Text for the consideration of the Working Group. These debates were carried out without any restriction on the scope of interventions and thereby provided a space for each side to articulate its perspective and facilitate a dialogue around fundamental issues. Some of the most important of these issues are related to indigenous peoples' self determination, and land, territory, and resource rights. During this process, the chair was responsible for keeping track of all of the proposals being actively considered by the Working Group. The alternative language of these proposals was then reflected in the post-negotiation session documents issued by the Chair. Those terms or phrases that could not be agreed upon by consensus were shown in these reports as bracketed text, to be considered during future sessions of the Working Group.
Throughout all of these negotiations, the Center has consistently advocated for indigenous rights through sound legal reasoning and consistent ethical positions. The Center also played a major role in assisting other indigenous organizations and nations - such as the Six Nations and Navajo Nation - in advocating for their rights and trying to facilitate consensus. In the process, we have submitted numerous proposals for alternative draft language over the years.
In total, the Working Group has carried out eleven negotiation meetings on the basis of the Chair's Consolidated Text in conformity with the methodology described above. These developments culminated in the final stage of the process: Final Revisions.