About

Our mission is to provide a platform of solidarity and knowledge exchange for unrepresented peoples worldwide while fostering dialogues with the international community to collaboratively advance a peaceful, democratic, equitable, and sustainable world. 

We envision a world where the voices of all peoples and nations are heard, valued, and respected – a world where fundamental rights, including the freedom to determine political status and the pursuit of economic, social, and cultural development, are upheld for everyone. 

UNPO believes that true universal peace and development are built on the pillars of solidarity, respect, cooperation, and friendship among all Peoples and Nations. Our vision is a future where peoples and nations thrive under systems of governance that honor fundamental human rights.

This future ensures full and equal participation, empowering all nations and peoples to fully realize their potential within a fair and equitable society. It embraces diversity, encourages positive exchanges and dialogues, and upholds justice within sustainable, democratic, and pluralistic societies.

The values and principles of the UNPO are embodied in the UNPO Covenant and they are followed by all UNPO members:

• The equal right of all peoples to self-determination and representation
  According to the UN Charter and the ICCPR, the right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law and is expressly recognized as a right for all peoples. For the UNPO, self-determination is understood as the right of Peoples to determine their own destiny and to have a voice in the form of their economic, cultural and social development, including their political status. For the UNPO, the importance of this right lies in the right of choice, with this choice potentially leading to different outcomes for each community. 
  For the UNPO, self-determination is the bedrock of true democracy by ensuring that all voices are equally heard and considered in decision-making processes. 

• Promotion of non-violence and the rejection of terrorism and violence as instruments of policy
  Non-violence is understood by the UNPO as an ideology that rejects the use of violent action in a conflict over power to attain social and political objectives. A key goal for the UNPO is to provide a forum to encourage members to adopt non-violent resistance and interethnic tolerance in the face of oppression.

• Adherence to internationally-accepted human rights standards
  Human rights are international moral and legal norms that aspire to protect all peoples everywhere from severe political, legal, and social abuses. For the UNPO, all human beings, no matter what ethnicity, nationality or legal influence, have universal rights.

• Adherence to the principles of democratic pluralism and rejection of intolerance
  Democratic pluralism, as understood by the UNPO, is a political system that is inclusive, participatory, representative, accountable, transparent, and responsive to citizens’ aspirations and expectations. Fundamentally, it means governance of, by and for the People. In a truly pluralistic democracy, diversity must be embraced, celebrating the richness of the world’s cultures, forms of expression, and ways of being human. For the UNPO, political inclusion should be fostered by knowledge, communication, freedom of thought, conscience, and belief, as well as openness to persons and groups whose viewpoints differ from one’s own.

• Protection of the natural environment
  The UNPO refers to environmental protection as the preservation of peoples’ natural habitat and resources that safeguard communities’ unique and independent cultures. We believe that the Peoples and Nations, including local populations. indigenous peoples, and other native communities, are the guardians of traditional ecological knowledge that benefits their communities and the future of the entire planet, and are therefore best placed to determine how to protect and preserve their way of life.

The UNPO is the sole international membership organisation working to develop understanding of and respect for the collective rights of all Peoples and Nations, including their right of political participation and equal representation, with the respect of self-determination of Peoples as a cornerstone of peaceful and inclusive societies.

The Peoples and Nations represented within the UNPO membership includes minorities, indigenous peoples, colonized territories and states with limited recognition. All are united by one shared condition: they are denied equal representation in the institutions of national or international governance. As a consequence, their opportunity to participate on the national or international stage is limited, and they struggle to fully realize their rights to civil and political participation and to control their economic, social and cultural development. In many cases, they are subject to the worst forms of violence and repression.

The Nations and Peoples as constituent body of the organisation

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is a unique body formed by and for nations and peoples who seek representation and a voice on the global stage. It stands as a coalition dedicated to advancing the rights and interests of its diverse member groups, each striving for recognition, self-determination, and justice.

Nations and Peoples become members at the UNPO by being represented by one organization that goes through an application process, adheres to membership rules and procedures and has a voice at our General Assembly. However, the UNPO secretariat works for the rights of the community as a whole. Understanding the right of self determination as a right of choice, the UNPO secretariat might exchange and work with different non-violent groups seeking for the application of this right, including, if they might have different views of what the outcome of the exercise of the right of self determination might be.

Additionally, the UNPO secretariat works also relies on strong worldwide partnerships with academia, international organisations, state actors and non-governmental organisations.

Recognition of the UNPO work

In the realm of global advocacy and human rights, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) since its inception has been a beacon of hope, resilience, and dedication. Through strategic advocacy, grassroots empowerment, and unwavering commitment to principles of democracy, the UNPO has not only brought attention to the struggles faced by countless peoples but has also achieved remarkable recognition for its efforts.

1991 Tolerance Award

The UNPO’s receipt of the Tolerance Award in 1991 stands as a testament to its unwavering commitment to fostering understanding, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence among diverse communities globally. This prestigious recognition acknowledges the organization’s tireless efforts in promoting dialogue, reconciliation, and mutual respect among unrepresented peoples facing various forms of marginalization and discrimination. By championing the values of tolerance and inclusivity, the UNPO has played a pivotal role in bridging divides, building solidarity, and advocating for the rights and dignity of all individuals, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, or religious backgrounds.

1992 Social Innovation Award (The Body Shop)

The UNPO’s receipt of the Social Innovation Award from The Body Shop in 1992 underscores its innovative approaches to addressing complex social and political issues confronting marginalized communities worldwide. Through pioneering initiatives and creative strategies, the UNPO has effectively raised awareness, mobilized support, and catalyzed positive change in the struggle for the rights and recognition of unrepresented peoples. This award recognizes the organization’s ability to harness the power of innovation to amplify marginalized voices, challenge systemic injustices, and advance the cause of social justice and human rights on a global scale.

1993 Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

In 1993, the UNPO’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize reaffirmed its pivotal role in advancing peace, human rights, and self-determination for unrepresented and marginalized communities across the globe. This prestigious nomination recognized the organization’s relentless pursuit of justice, equality, and dignity for all peoples, regardless of their circumstances or status. By advocating for the rights of those whose voices often go unheard, the UNPO has contributed significantly to building a more peaceful, inclusive, and equitable world, where every individual and community can thrive in freedom and security.

1994 Right Livelihood Award Nomination

The UNPO’s nomination for the Right Livelihood Award in 1994 highlighted its outstanding contributions to promoting justice, equality, and sustainable development through its advocacy and empowerment initiatives. This esteemed nomination underscored the organization’s unwavering commitment to addressing the root causes of inequality, poverty, and social exclusion faced by unrepresented peoples worldwide. By empowering marginalized communities, amplifying their voices, and advocating for their rights, the UNPO has emerged as a leading force for positive change and social transformation, inspiring hope and resilience in the face of adversity.

1998 Petra Kelly Peace Award (Heinrich Böll Foundation)

The UNPO’s receipt of the Petra Kelly Peace Award from the Heinrich Böll Foundation in 1998 epitomizes its dedication to peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and the promotion of human rights and democracy. This prestigious accolade recognized the organization’s tireless efforts in advocating for peaceful and non-violent means of resolving conflicts, promoting dialogue and reconciliation, and fostering a culture of respect, understanding, and cooperation among diverse communities. By championing the principles of peace, justice, and solidarity, the UNPO has played a crucial role in advancing the cause of peace and human rights on a global scale, leaving a lasting legacy of hope and inspiration for future generations.

Across our membership, various representatives have been bestowed with prestigious awards. Dr. Edna Adan Ismail, former President of the UNPO, was honored with the Templeton Prize in 2023 and with the 26th Fervent Global Love of Lives Award by the Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation in 2023. 

The UNPO Covenant is the organisation’s foundational document, outlining our values, mission, vision and principles. Our members fully adhere to it by becoming signatories.  

The main organ of the UNPO is the UNPO General Assembly. Its objectives are to:

• Share: exchange experiences, visions and develop solidarity among unrepresented peoples worldwide
• Support: work together and support each other towards the promotion of democracy and human rights.

The General Assembly is organised annually and is guided by the rules of procedure of the General Assembly.

To support and coordinate the UNPO Membership, a Stichting (Dutch Foundation) was established in the Hague in 1991. The Stichting UNPO is led by a Secretary General who advises and works with the UNPO membership, via the elected Presidency, to develop and implement the organisation’s strategies.

The Stichting UNPO is committed to embody the principles of the organisation, including ensuring financial and governance transparency, and a healthy work environment across its membership and members of the Secretariat. 

• UNPO Rules of Procedure
• UNPO Financial Procedures
• UNPO Code of Conduct

The UNPO Secretary General is the appointed representative of the UNPO Members and acts as the director of the UNPO secretariat employed by the Sthichting, represented the UNPO internationally and gives strategic guidance to the members.

The UNPO Advisory Board are independent experts that provide support to the UNPO Membership and to the Secretary General, bringing external and high-level expertise to the organization in order to achieve its Mission.

The UNPO Secretariat’s objective is to support the UNPO members as a collective. The Secretariat role is to:

• Coordinate: Facilitate exchanges between members
• Empower: Provide capacity training to members
• Defend: Advocate for members’ rights
• Celebrate: Promote the rich diversity of the membership

UNPO was conceived of in the late 1980s by exiled leaders of people living under communist oppression, Linnart Mäll of the Congress of Estonia, Erkin Alptekin of the Uyghur people, and Lodi Gyari of Tibet, together with Michael Van Walt van Praag, the international law advisor of the 14th Dalai Lama. A key goal was to replicate the powerful message of nonviolence and interethnic tolerance in the face of oppression exhibited by the Tibetan people and championed by the 14th Dalai Lama and to provide a forum in which others are encouraged and supported to adopt similar approaches.

The UNPO was formally founded in February 1991 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, by representatives of movements belonging to Australian Aboriginals, Armenia, Crimean Tatars, Cordillera, East Turkestan, Estonia, Georgia, the Greek Minority in Albania, Kurdistan, Latvia, Palau, Tibet, Taiwan, Tatarstan and West Papua. They were joined just a few months later by representatives from Abkhazia, Aceh, Assyria, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, South Moluccas, Bougainville, Chechnya, Kosova, Zanzibar, and the Mairi and Iraqi Turkmen people.

Since then, UNPO’s membership has grown steadily from its original founders, with membership from more than 45 peoples worldwide, comprising over 300 million people lacking true representation in domestic or international forums. Since its founding, many members have achieved their movement’s goals and found a formal seat for their people at the national or international level and have, thus, left the organization as their peoples are no longer considered to be “unrepresented”.

UNPO has been awarded the 1991 Tolerance Award, 1992 Social Innovation Award (The Body Shop), 1998 Petra Kelly Peace Award (Heinrich Böll Foundation) and was nominated for the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize and 1994 Right to Livelihood Award.

The Strategic Plan 2024-2027 was approved by the UNPO membership at the XIX General Assembly held in Munich the 14th and 15th May 2024.

Within the new strategy, the UNPO membership acknowledged that over the past 34 years, the organization has encountered numerous opportunities in its pursuit of a world where the right to self-determination is universally respected, allowing all nations and peoples to live in dignity, freedom, and peace. However, as the organization has expanded and evolved, the challenges it faces have also increased. Embracing these challenges as catalysts for positive change, the UNPO has undertaken essential internal reforms to modernize its governance systems. Additionally, it has seen the necessity to adapt to the dramatically shifting geopolitical realities, ensuring its continued relevance and effectiveness in advocating for its members’ rights. In order to do so, the UNPO is taking into account the following current trends :

• Shifts in the geopolitical paradigm is seeing the established multilateral system losing legitimacy;
• Tension between great powers, with autocratic states gaining ground and a growth of populism and the far right in the democratic states are weakening the systems of democratic governance;
• The climate crisis increases the magnitude and frequency of severe weather events while scarcity of resources and over exploitation are disproportionately affecting the environment, land and socioeconomic stability of excluded communities such as UNPO members;
• State’s increasing use of assimilation policies are leading to the erasure of People’s identities.
• The emergence of new technologies have the potential to change the balance of powers, increase the potential for cyber-attacks and other forms of digital sabotage and disrupt global systems and infrastructures leaving most marginalised peoples further behind.

First of all, and acknowledging all these challenges as well as the increasing of tensions and global violence, the UNPO General Assembly reaffirmed the importance of non-violent resistance against oppression as the most effective tool for positive change, and the importance of diversity as a necessity for truly inclusive and vibrant pluralistic societies. Secondly, the General Assembly approved the continuation of internal reforms initiated after the General Assembly XVIII held in Barcelona in May 2023.

Third, the overall aim of the Strategic Plan 2024-2027 was defined as to effectively continue the UNPO’s mission, whilst considering the new geopolitical reality and modernizing the organisation’s internal structures.

What we want to focus on? 

Within the current strategy, the UNPO staff works towards encouraging a better understanding of peoples’ collective rights as a key element for a sustainable and peaceful future. This way, the organization supports communities to protect their identities and regain ownership of their narratives. The UNPO also acknowledges the importance of the people’s voice as key for the preservation and development of environmental and societal resilience and will support members’ engagement with international environmental fora.

In order to achieve this, we support our members through the development of our cross-cutting campaigns, inviting experts and academia to work alongside the members to ensure a valuable exchange of expertise and capacity building, and through a new communication strategy to improve our capacity to raise awareness on members’ situations, while better explaining the organization’s work and mission.

The key areas we aim to develop in order to increase the impact of our work are:

• Strengthening cross-regional projects and solidarity among members around issues of common concern.
• Emphasizing in all areas of our work the necessity of non-violent resistance against oppression.
• Boosting our UNPO Youth Network and increasing the participation of women from underrepresented communities.
• Establishing partnership and building relationships with like-minded organizations, academia and key international actors.
• Raising awareness of members’ situations through high level research as a basis for our advocacy and public communication.
• Developing the UNPO Academy and capacity-building training to effectively support members to have their voices heard.

Through our programmes, we aim to:

• Work towards strengthening democratic values worldwide spreading the use of the principles, methodology and practice of Gandhian non-violence and nonviolent civil resistance as the most effective means of pursuing and enforcing both collective and individual rights.
• Support our members in effectively participating in decision-making processes.
• Assist our members in preserving their collective identities.
• Help our members to positively contribute to global discussions around current environmental and geopolitical challenges.
• Continue our advocacy and policy work, raising awareness around human rights abuses faced by UNPO members.

However, in order to be able to implement this work, the financial support of members communities, friends and partners is key. Thanks for considering supporting our work. To partner with us, please contact us. To provide us with the resources we need to conduct our work, please see here.

UNPO is committed to being accountable not only to our members and stakeholders but also to the public. Because of that, we regularly publish detailed reports on our website, including our strategic plans, financial statements, and outcomes of our projects and campaigns. This openness ensures that anyone interested in our work can access accurate and up-to-date information about our operations and impact.

By adhering to these principles and practices, UNPO ensures that it remains a trustworthy and effective advocate for the rights of unrepresented and marginalized communities worldwide. This commitment to transparency and accountability not only strengthens our organization but also enhances our ability to achieve our mission.

All our financial and activity reports can be found here:

Financial Reports and Funders

ANBI Informatie

With the money we receive we focus on: 

• Covering the staff cost of organizing and developing training modules,workshops and members meetings on several topics including Advocacy, Human Rights, Non Violence and many others.
• Covering the cost of conducting research, writing complaints and supporting advocacy for and with unrepresented Peoples.
• Covering the cost for raising awarness campaigns for members (including with our website, social media, participating on conferences and global meetings)
• Developing specific projects and activities related to our programmes

The financial resources are mostly from : members membership (3000 euros annually); specific members project financed by the nation or People concerned; specific projects and activities financed by external donors. 

For the same occasion we extend our deepest gratitude to our past and current members, donors and sponsors for their unwavering support and commitment to our mission. Your generosity enables us to amplify the voices of unrepresented peoples, protect their rights, and promote a more just and inclusive world.

• Body Shop Foundation
• Congressional Human Rights Foundation
• Danida Denmark
• Denmark Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• European Human Rights Foundation
• European Cultural Foundation
• Finnida Finland
• G.E.M. Foundation
• Haella Stichting
• International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development Canada
• Leila Luce and Luce Foundation
• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• New World Foundation
• Norway, Foreign Ministry
• SIDA Sweden
• The City of the Hague
• The Nando and Elsa Perretti Foundation
• Thredshold Foundation
• Tides Foundation

Your support can make a world of difference. By donating to UNPO, you help amplify the voices of unrepresented peoples, protect their rights, and promote their right to self-determination. Every contribution, no matter the size, empowers communities to fight for equal participation on the global stage, preserving their heritage and environment. Join us in building a more just and inclusive world—your generosity fuels our mission.

Thank you for being a vital part of our journey.