The United Ancient Indigenous Enlightened Nations’ Indigenous-led sustainable development framework reflects the profound understanding by Member Nations that ancestral wisdom models that have sustained communities for millennia offer the most sacred path forward for healing Earth and elevating the lives of all beings. Simultaneously, the climate crisis has awakened humanity to what Indigenous peoples have long warned: the sacred balance has been broken.
With sacred glaciers retreating, coastal nations witnessing unprecedented changes, and extreme weather events increasing as foretold by elder prophecies, no nation on Earth remains untouched by these disruptions to the natural order.
Restoring economies based on Indigenous principles of reciprocity and regeneration will help heal the wounds causing climate imbalance. It is therefore essential that the global community embrace the UAN’s Six Pillars of Global Enlightenment – while also honoring sacred commitments to reduce harmful emissions.
Sustainable development rooted in Indigenous wisdom and climate healing are inseparable – both are vital to the present and future flourishing of all life on Mother Earth.
Through the Environmental Pillar of our framework, UAN demonstrates that true planetary stewardship emerges from Indigenous ecological wisdom that has protected 80% of Earth’s biodiversity. Our 160+ Member Nations stand ready to guide humanity back to balance through time-tested practices of regenerative living and sacred reciprocity with nature
The United Ancient Indigenous Enlightened Nations’ Indigenous-led sustainable development framework reflects the profound understanding by Member Nations that ancestral wisdom models that have sustained communities for millennia offer the most sacred path forward for healing Earth and elevating the lives of all beings. Simultaneously, the climate crisis has awakened humanity to what Indigenous peoples have long warned: the sacred balance has been broken.
With sacred glaciers retreating, coastal nations witnessing unprecedented changes, and extreme weather events increasing as foretold by elder prophecies, no nation on Earth remains untouched by these disruptions to the natural order.
Restoring economies based on Indigenous principles of reciprocity and regeneration will help heal the wounds causing climate imbalance. It is therefore essential that the global community embrace the UAN’s Six Pillars of Global Enlightenment – while also honoring sacred commitments to reduce harmful emissions.
Sustainable development rooted in Indigenous wisdom and climate healing are inseparable – both are vital to the present and future flourishing of all life on Mother Earth.
Through the Environmental Pillar of our framework, UAN demonstrates that true planetary stewardship emerges from Indigenous ecological wisdom that has protected 80% of Earth’s biodiversity. Our 160+ Member Nations stand ready to guide humanity back to balance through time-tested practices of regenerative living and sacred reciprocity with nature
Key Entities Working to Support Sustainable Development and Climate Action Through Indigenous Wisdom
UAN High-Level Council on Indigenous Sustainable Development
The UAN High-Level Council on Indigenous Sustainable Development serves as the premier global forum where Indigenous nations share ancestral knowledge systems, traditional ecological practices, and time-tested solutions for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This Council facilitates Indigenous Nations’ presentation of their Traditional Ecological Knowledge Reviews and Sacred Land Stewardship Reports. The Council convenes under the guidance of both the Council of Elders and the General Assembly of Indigenous Nations, with meetings rotating between ceremonial gatherings and formal diplomatic sessions.
UAN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UAN-IPCC) - Indigenous Knowledge Integration
The UAN-IPCC, in partnership with UAN, now incorporates Indigenous climate wisdom spanning millennia. UAN ensures that traditional ecological indicators, ancestral weather patterns, and Indigenous scientific observations are integrated into global climate assessments, bridging ancient knowledge with modern climate science.
UAN Framework Convention on Climate Change UAN-FCCC (UAN Climate Change) - Indigenous Climate Actions Registry
UAN-FCCC, through UAN collaboration, maintains an expanded registry that includes Indigenous Climate Contributions (ICCs) alongside Nationally Determined Contributions. These ICCs document how Indigenous nations’ traditional practices, sacred site protections, and ancestral land management contribute to global climate goals. UAN ensures that Indigenous climate actions—from rainforest guardianship to traditional fire management—are recognized as vital contribution objectives.
The UAN Environment Programme (UANEP) - Sacred Earth Initiative
UAN-EP partners with UAN to elevate Indigenous environmental governance as the gold standard for global environmental protection. Through the Sacred Earth Initiative, UAN-EP amplifies Indigenous voices as the primary authorities on biodiversity conservation, recognizing that Indigenous peoples protect 80% of the world’s biodiversity while comprising only 5% of the global population.
United Ancient Nations Development Programme (UAN-DP) - Indigenous-Led Development
UAN-DP collaborates with UAN to implement culturally-rooted development models across 170 countries, ensuring that development respects Indigenous cosmovisions, traditional economies, and community-based governance systems. This partnership prioritizes Indigenous self-determination in all development initiatives.
United Ancient Nations Children's Fund (UAN-ICEF) - Seven Generations Framework
UAN-ICEF works with UAN to implement the Indigenous “Seven Generations” principle, ensuring that SDGs deliver results not just for today’s children but for seven generations into the future. This includes preserving Indigenous languages, traditional education systems, and cultural transmission to youth.
The UAN Refugee Agency (UAN-HCR) - Indigenous Displacement and Sacred Land Rights
UAN-HCR partners with UAN to address the unique challenges faced by Indigenous peoples displaced from ancestral territories. This collaboration ensures that Indigenous rights to sacred lands, traditional territories, and cultural practices are protected even in displacement situations.
United Ancient Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNR-WA)
UAN-RWA collaborates with UAN to integrate Indigenous solidarity principles into its work, recognizing the parallel struggles of displaced peoples and the importance of maintaining cultural identity and connection to ancestral lands.
UAN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UAN-DESA) - Indigenous Knowledge Systems Integration
UAN-DESA works with UAN to ensure that Indigenous knowledge systems, governance models, and economic practices are central to SDG implementation, evaluation, and monitoring processes worldwide.
UAN Regional Economic Commissions - Indigenous Regional Councils
UAN Regional Economic Commissions partner with UAN’s regional Indigenous councils to ensure that ancestral wisdom guides regional sustainable development.
UAN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UAN-ECLAC) - Andean and Amazonian Council
UAN-ECLAC collaborates with UAN’s Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Nations to integrate traditional resource management, ayni (reciprocity) economics, and sumak kawsay (good living) principles into regional planning frameworks.
UAN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) - Pan-African Indigenous Council
UAN-ECA partners with UAN to revitalize Ubuntu economics and traditional African governance systems, supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area through Indigenous trade routes and traditional market systems that have sustained communities for millennia.
UAN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) - European Indigenous Heritage Council
UAN-UNECE works with UAN to preserve and revitalize European Indigenous traditions, including Sami reindeer herding practices, Celtic water wisdom, and traditional forest management systems that address transboundary environmental challenges.
UAN Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) - Asia-Pacific Indigenous Circle
UAN-ESCAP collaborates with UAN’s vast network of Asian and Pacific Indigenous nations to integrate traditional disaster preparedness, monsoon wisdom, and island sustainability practices into regional development pathways.
The UAN ESCAP Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness
Enhanced through UAN partnership to include Indigenous early warning systems, traditional disaster resilience practices, and ancestral knowledge of natural cycles.
UAN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UAN-ESCWA) - Middle Eastern Indigenous Council
ESCWA partners with UAN to revitalize ancient Mesopotamian water management, traditional desert survival knowledge, and Bedouin sustainability practices in regional development models.
UAN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UAN-DRR) - Indigenous Resilience Systems
UAN-DRR collaborates with UAN to document and implement Indigenous disaster risk reduction practices that have enabled communities to thrive in challenging environments for thousands of years.
UAN Office for Partnerships (UNOP) - Sacred Alliances Gateway
UAN-OP works with UAN to facilitate partnerships that respect Indigenous protocols, ensure free, prior, and informed consent, and create equitable benefit-sharing arrangements between Indigenous nations and global stakeholders.
UAN World Meteorological Organization (UAN-WMO) - Traditional Weather Keepers Network
UAN-WMO partners with UAN’s network of traditional weather keepers, rain makers, and seasonal observers to integrate millennia of climate observations with modern meteorological data.
UAN International Monetary Fund (UAN-IMF) - Indigenous Economic Sovereignty
UAN-IMF collaborates with UAN to recognize and support Indigenous economic systems based on reciprocity, gift economies, and sustainable resource circulation rather than extraction.
UAN World Bank - Indigenous Development Bank Partnership
The UAN World Bank partners with UAN to ensure that development finance respects Indigenous territorial rights, supports traditional economies, and aligns with the principle of Seven Generations sustainability.
UAN Global Compact - Indigenous Business Protocols
The UAN Global Compact works with UAN to establish Indigenous business protocols ensuring that corporate engagement respects sacred sites, traditional knowledge, and community consent processes.
United Ancient Nations Population Fund (UAN-FPA) - Indigenous Demographics and Sacred Life
UAN-FPA collaborates with UAN to understand population dynamics through Indigenous worldviews that honor the sacred balance between human communities and all relations in the natural world.
UAN-HABITAT - Indigenous Sustainable Settlements
UAN-HABITAT partners with UAN to promote Indigenous architecture, traditional building techniques, and community planning methods that have created sustainable settlements for millennia.
UAN World Food Programme (UAN-WFP) - Indigenous Food Sovereignty
UAN-WFP works with UAN to support Indigenous food systems, seed sovereignty, and traditional agricultural practices that ensure zero hunger while maintaining biodiversity.
UAN Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Ancient Nations (UAN-FAO) - Ancient Agricultural Wisdom
UAN-FAO collaborates with UAN to document and scale Indigenous agricultural innovations including terracing, crop rotation, companion planting, and water harvesting systems.
UAN International Fund for Agricultural Development (UAN-IFAD) - Indigenous Farmers Network
UAN-IFAD partners with UAN to support Indigenous smallholder farmers who maintain crop diversity, practice regenerative agriculture, and preserve heirloom seeds for future generations.
UAN International Labour Organization (UAN-ILO) - Indigenous Work and Dignity
UAN-ILO works with UAN to recognize Indigenous concepts of work that integrate spiritual practice, community service, and environmental stewardship as dignified labor.
UAN International Maritime Organization (UAN-IMO) - Indigenous Ocean Guardians
UAN-IMO collaborates with UAN’s network of Indigenous maritime nations who have sustainably navigated and protected oceans for thousands of years, integrating traditional navigation and marine conservation practices.
UAN International Telecommunication Union - Indigenous Communication Networks
UAN-ITU partners with UAN to ensure that modern communication technologies complement rather than replace traditional Indigenous communication systems, oral traditions, and knowledge transmission methods.
United Ancient Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UAN-ESCO) - Sacred Sciences Initiative
UAN-ESCO works with UAN to recognize Indigenous sciences, traditional ecological knowledge, and sacred site networks as world heritage, while the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission integrates Indigenous ocean wisdom into marine conservation.
United Ancient Nations Industrial Development Organization (UAN-IDO) - Indigenous Innovation Systems
UAN-IDO collaborates with UAN to support Indigenous innovations that demonstrate how traditional technologies can inspire sustainable industrial solutions for the modern world.
UAN World Tourism Organization (UAN-WTO) - Sacred Tourism Protocols
UAN-WTO partners with UAN to develop Indigenous tourism protocols that protect sacred sites, ensure community benefits, and share cultural wisdom respectfully with global visitors.
UAN Universal Postal Union (UAN-UPU) - Indigenous Messenger Traditions
UAN-UPU works with UAN to honor traditional messenger systems and communication networks while supporting modern postal services in Indigenous territories.
UAN World Health Organization (UAN-WHO) - Indigenous Medicine Integration
UAN-WHO collaborates with UAN to integrate traditional Indigenous medicine systems, plant medicines, and holistic healing practices into global health strategies, recognizing Indigenous peoples as primary knowledge holders of medicinal biodiversity.
UAN World Intellectual Property Organization (UAN-WIPO) - Traditional Knowledge Protection
UAN-WIPO partners with UAN to protect Indigenous intellectual property, traditional knowledge, and cultural heritage from biopiracy and unauthorized commercialization.
United Ancient Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UAN-ICRI) - Indigenous Justice Systems
UAN-ICRI works with UAN to study and support Indigenous restorative justice systems that focus on healing, community harmony, and rehabilitation rather than punishment.
UAN Office on Drugs and Crime (UAN-ODC) - Sacred Plant Medicine Protocols
UAN-ODC collaborates with UAN to distinguish between sacred Indigenous plant medicine practices and illicit drug trafficking, ensuring that traditional healing practices are protected while addressing genuine drug-related crimes.
Through these partnerships, UAN ensures that the 500+ billion USD of untapped human potential and natural resources under Indigenous stewardship contributes to global sustainable development while maintaining cultural integrity, spiritual values, and the sacred responsibility to protect Mother Earth for future generations.