Malaysia- 1st- Indigenous Peoples

By Daniel Morris | 13. January 2026

[We are focusing on content which explicitly addresses IPs in this issue, but that the NAP contains significant content focused on communities which is also relevant, but not all is included].

THEMATIC PRIORITY 1: GOVERNANCE

UNGP PILLAR 1

HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS

No.: G1.29

Action: Deliver BHR education and capacity building for state government agencies and businesses to improve enforcement.

Output Indicator(s):

  • Coverage of capacity building sessions successfully conducted at the state level for both the public and private sectors.
  • Scope of BHR issues covered affecting key stakeholders including women, children and youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, migrant populations, asylum-seekers, refugees, stateless communities, undocumented groups, and other marginalised communities.

Collaborative Partner(s): BHEUU; SUHAKAM; related federal agencies; State Governments

UNGP PILLAR 3

No.: G3.3

Action: Increase the availability of mobile courts as an additional mechanism to oversee legal disputes for communities living in the interior.

Output Indicator(s):

  • Evidence, insights and recommendations are developed to support the establishment of additional mobile courts.
  • Information on accessing mobiles courts is disseminated among at-risk communities, ensuring the active participation of women, children and young people, older persons, persons with disabilities and Indigenous Peoples in the legal process.

Collaborative Partner(s): BHEUU

No.: G3.9

Action: In the context of SLAPP, BHEUU reverse the legal burden of proof from those affected to the State and business for BHR-related litigation and enhance the range of defences available to defendants.

Output Indicator(s):

  • Enactment of Anti-SLAPP legislation that underscores the rights of affected communities and ensures mechanisms for robust discovery.
  • The specific experience of Indigenous Peoples is recognised in SLAPP-related legislation, pertaining the use and ownership of native ancestral lands.
  • The legal framework is extended to include all communities affected by corporate harms, including farmers and small-scale fishers

Collaborative Partner(s): BHEUU

No.: L3.11

Action: Launch nationwide worker socialisation and engagement programmes that aim at building worker confidence and trust and encourage the use of non- State and non-judicial grievance mechanisms.

Output Indicator(s):

  • Engagement programmes are organised across Malaysia, starting with high-risk sectors.
  • Engagement programmes have considered specific invisible barriers faced by women, migrant workers, persons with disabilities, young workers and children and other vulnerable communities including language, norms, cultural traditions, and social or gender-linked vulnerabilities.

Collaborative Partner(s): KESUMA; State agencies; businesses; IGOs

THEMATIC PRIORITY 3: ENVIRONMENT

UNGP PILLLAR 1

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

No.: E1.20

Action: Implement the UNDRIP within Malaysia’s current legislative and policy framework.

Output indicators:

  • Regulations, institutional frameworks and other policy and programmes are implemented to support enforcement of UNDRIP, recognising the special contexts of Sabah and Sarawak.
  • Guidelines and protocols are developed, accompanied by trainings, on the application of UNDRIP in policy and decision-making.
  • Indigenous representatives are formally included in the implementation process at both federal and state levels.

Collaborative partner(s): Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW); JAKOA; SUHAKAM; related State agencies; IGOs; CSOs; Environmental and Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs)

No.: E1.21

Action: Conduct a feasibility study on the ratification of the Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) of the ILO.

Output indicators:

  • Evidence, insights and recommendations are developed that define entry points towards the ratification Convention.
  • Policy reforms and institutional measures are undertaken in alignment with SUHAKAM’s National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Malaysia (2013) report.
  • Indigenous representatives are formally included in the policy process at both federal and state levels.

Collaborative partner(s): KKDW; SUHAKAM; related State agencies; IGOs; CSOs; EHRDs

No.: E1.22

Action: Develop a standard of conduct on FPIC and prior and effective consultations in collaboration with communities, CSOs and state authorities.

Output Indicator(s):

  • Comprehensive, robust and standardised national guidelines on FPIC and prior and effective consultations are developed, applicable to all sectors, and clearly stipulate access to grievance mechanisms and remedy.
  • FPIC guidelines and other related information materials, accompanied by awareness trainings, are disseminated widely among businesses, communities and all stakeholders.

Collaborative Partner(s): KKDW; SUHAKAM; related State agencies; IGOs; CSOs; EHRDs

No.: E1.23

Action: Develop a voluntary Community Engagement Protocol or Native Engagement Plan on FPIC.

Output Indicator(s):

  • Community workshops are organised to co-design a voluntary Community Engagement Protocol or Native Engagement Plan on FPIC.
  • Protocols, plans and any other related information materials, accompanied by awareness trainings, are disseminated widely among businesses, communities and all stakeholders.

Collaborative Partner(s): KKDW; SUHAKAM; related State agencies; IGOs; CSOs; EHRDs

No.: E1.24

Action: Provision of enhanced human rights-based training for public legal practitioners and mediators.

Output Indicator(s):

  • Adequate and up-to-date human rights-based training, grounded in the UNGPs and other international guidance, are conducted for public legal practitioners and mediators.
  • Trainings conducted underscore key concepts of Indigenous customary rights and reconciliatory approaches in the context of the overextension of legal and nonlegal industry mechanisms against communities.

Collaborative Partner(s): SUHAKAM; Bar Council; IGOs; CSO; EHRDs

UNGP PILLAR 2

COMMUNITY-CENTRED STRAEGIES

No.: E2.8

Action: Publicly commit to recognising and respecting the human rights of EHRDs and Indigenous Peoples, whether Malaysian law provides for those rights or otherwise, and act consistently with these corporate commitments. Due diligence including environmental, social, cultural, and other related human rights impact assessments should be regularly conducted and integrated internally at all working levels. FPIC principles should also be met fully by exceeding the minimum requirements to ensure that any deficits in the process do not create further harm to communities directly or by creating an incomplete picture of potential harms.

No.: E2.10

Action: Meaningfully include Indigenous communities in the FPIC process by consulting and partnering with them on the due diligence process. Companies should actively seek their comments and verify results from due diligence and impact assessments, incorporate community-level information pathways, and work in partnership with Indigenous CSOs. Special attention should be given to Indigenous women, youth and children