VOLUNTARY FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Since 1985, the United Nations have a special fund to cover the travel expenses of several indigenous representatives who wish to attend the session of the Working Group. It is a voluntary fund which has received contributions from the Governments of Australia, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and of several NGOs. The fund is administered by the Secretariat and Board of Trustees, composed of: A. Willemsen Dias (Guatemala), Chairman, L. Denfeld (Norway), A. Sene (Senegal), H. Tauroa (New Zealand), D. Turk (Yugoslavia). In 1988 and 1989, the fund provided travel grants to 27 and 39 indigenous representatives respectively. For 1990, it could only provide 21 travel grants. This can be explained, in part, by the fact that the extension of the meetings to two weeks increased the expenses considerably. For 1991, requests for travel grants should be sent before 31 March 1991 to Gudmundur Alfredsson, Centre for Human Rights, Palais des nations, 1211 Geneva 10.
