The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is an international human rights instrument adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007. It is comprised of 46 articles about the treatment of Indigenous peoples, and the rights contained within it "constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the Indigenous people of the world."
On November 28, 2019, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia unanimously adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, 2019, becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to enshrine UNDRIP into law.
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act requires the Government of British Columbia to ensure that provincial laws (both existing and future) are consistent with UNDRIP. The government must also, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, prepare and implement an action plan on how these changes will be achieved and prepare annual reports on the progress made toward implementing measures set out in the action plan. These reports must be provided to the Legislative Assembly and will therefore be public. The Act also enables the government to share statutory authority with Indigenous governing bodies by entering into decision making agreements.
