Event: United Nations EMRIP Seminar

Alicia Maribel Abanto Cabanillas

TBD

José Aylwin Oyarzún, Coordinator of the Globalization and Human Rights Program, Observatorio Cludadano

José Aylwin is a human rights lawyer who studied at the University of Chile in Santiago (1981) and received a Master of Laws at the University of British Columbia (Canada) (1999). He is the co-founder and President of the of the Observatorio Ciudadano (Citizens’ Watch), an NGO aimed at documenting and promoting human rights in Chile and Latin America. José was also a member of the board of directors of the National Human Rights Institute in Chile from 2013 to 2018. He has researched and published on Indigenous Peoples´ rights, citizens’ rights, environmental rights, as well as on business and human rights in Chile and Latin America with different national and international institutions. He has also been an adjunct professor teaching Indigenous Peoples’ Rights at the School of Law of the Universidad Austral de Chile and invited as visiting professor at the University of Deusto in Spain and Mc Gill University in Canada. Currently, he acts as Coordinator of the Globalization and Human Rights Program of the Observatorio Ciudadano.

David Berger, Advisor on Data Generation and Analysis, International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs

David Nathaniel Berger is the Advisor on Data Generation and Analysis and the programme coordinator responsible for components of the Indigenous Navigator at the International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs. He is passionate about sustainability, human rights, and data. He joined IWGIA as programme coordinator for pillars 1 & 2 of the Indigenous Navigator project and as general editor of The Indigenous World 2019 and is now regional editor for the Pacific for the Indigenous World 2020, 2021 and 2022. David is also a Global Studies (IR & Poli-Sci) MA graduate from the Erasmus Mundus Joint Degree program, with NGO development and administration experience.  

Joan Carling, Executive Director, Indigenous Peoples Rights International

Joan Carling is an Indigenous activist from the Cordillera, Philippines. She has been working on Indigenous issues at the grassroots to international levels for more than 20 years. Her fields of expertise include human rights, sustainable development, the environment and climate change, as well as the principles and application of Free Prior and Informed Consent. She has also been actively engaging in international bodies, processes, and mechanisms such as with International Financial Institutions, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UN agencies, and mechanisms relating to human rights and sustainable development in advancing the issues and concerns of Indigenous peoples. She is also a former Indigenous expert member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She is currently the Executive Director of Indigenous Peoples Rights International.

Joshua Cooper, Director, Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights

Joshua Cooper is a human rights advocate actively involved in this work since the creation of the UN Human Rights Council. He began serving with Maui Mayor Rick Bissen in the newly created Department of Innovation & Sustainability for the four island county of Maui including Kaho’olawe, Lanai and Molokai. He also serves on the National Human Rights Cities Alliance for the United States of America and participates on that steering committee. Cooper has created and coordinated four dozen unique courses in Political Science, Journalism and Peace Studies at the University of Hawaii, and is founder of United Nations University – Regional Center of Expertise (UNU-RCE) Hawai’i Moananuiakea. Cooper participated in the negotiations from the Rio+20 Summit to the adoption at the UN General Assembly of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Cooper advises Major Groups and Other Stakeholders in the UN Voluntary National Reviews for the High Level Political Forum and is mobilizing subnational initiatives such as Voluntary Local Reviews spearheaded by cities. Hawai’i will be conducting its second VLR in 2023. 

William David

TBD

Soledad García Muñoz, Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights, Organization of American States 

Soledad García Muñoz is the Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (REDESCA), from the IACHR, OAS. She is also a lawyer specialized in fundamental rights with a degree from University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. She is a renowned academic and activist with a long career trajectory of regional and global work on human rights, gender and women’s human rights. She has provided professional and voluntary services to different agencies of the United Nations, to Amnesty International, the Ibero-American Youth Organization, among other prestigious organizations. Before starting her tenure as Special Rapporteur, she was the regional representative for South America of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights based in Montevideo, Uruguay. She is the first holder of REDESCA’s mandate, after being elected by the IACHR in an Inter-American public competition. 

Kasari Govender, Commissioner, British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner

Kasari Govender took office as British Columbia’s first independent Human Rights Commissioner in 2019. Her role is to lead the promotion and protection of human rights in British Columbia through the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. Govender has devoted her life to promoting human rights, with a focus on the rights of those most marginalized. She is passionate about using her skills as a lawyer and community builder to create a more equal and just province. She has worked closely with organizations and communities promoting gender equality, Indigenous rights, children’s rights, the rights of people with disabilities and the rights of immigrant communities. She has co-authored key reports and articles and speaks widely on crucial social issues such as hate speech, access to justice, gender-based violence and systemic racism. Her earlier work includes a pivotal role in establishing the Rise Women’s Legal Centre, a non-profit legal clinic in British Columbia.

Paul Joffe, Legal Counsel, Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)/ Cree Nation Government

Paul Joffe is a lawyer and a member of the Québec and Ontario bars. He specializes in human rights concerning Indigenous Peoples at the international and domestic level. Since the early 1980s, he has been actively involved in standard-setting processes including those relating to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the Organization of American States; and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 in Geneva. For the past three decades, Paul has represented the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) and, more recently, the Cree Nation Government.

Eirik Larsen, Political Advisor, Governing Council of the Norwegian Sami Parliament

Mr. Eirik Larsen – Lásse-Ivvár Erke (1983) is a Political advisor for the Governing Council at the Sámi Parliament in Norway. Larsen is from Dielddanuorri (Tjeldsund) in Norway and lives currently in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino). He represents the Norwegian Sámi Association (NSR) and was elected as member of the Sami Parliament in Norway in 2021. Larsen holds a Master in Law from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, where he graduated with a Master’s thesis on Sámi and Indigenous Peoples Law. Larsen has previously worked in Norwegian ministries and Sami civil society.

Margaret Mutu, Professor, University of Auckland

Margaret Mutu is of Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua and Scottish descent. She is the Professor of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland where she teaches and conducts research on Māori language, tikanga (law), history and traditions, rights and sovereignty, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and treaty claims against the English Crown, constitutional transformation and Māori-Chinese encounters. She has published four books: a grammar of the `Ua Pou dialect of Marquesan (2002); the history and traditions of her hapū, Te Whānau Moana (2003); her collection of annual reviews of issues affecting Māori, The State of Māori Rights (2011); and Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation, on the traditions, history and Tiriti o Waitangi claims of her iwi (nation), Ngāti Kahu (2017). Margaret is also the chair of her iwi parliament, Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu of the Far North and of two of her marae. She has been a mandated representative of Ngāti Kahu and of Māori in several national and international fora including being the chair of the Aotearoa Monitoring Mechanism. 

Jessica Ngatai, Senior Human Rights Specialist/Kaitakawaenga Matua Te Kāhui Tika Tangata the New Zealand Human Rights Commission

Jessica Ngatai, of Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Haua descent, is a Senior Human Rights Specialist / Kaitakawaenga Matua at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata the New Zealand Human Rights Commission. A graduate of Law and Māori Studies from the University of Auckland, she has worked at the Commission for over fifteen years in a range of legal, research and policy roles. As part of the Commission’s Ahi Kaa Treaty and Indigenous Rights team, her work currently focuses on the UN Declaration – promoting, monitoring and advocating for realisation of the rights of tangata whenua / Indigenous Peoples. Other key areas of work have included in relation to rights in detention, women’s rights and children’s rights.

Chidiebere Ogbonna, Senior Lecturer, Department of Peace, Conflict and Development Studies, Kampala International University

Chidiebere, C. Ogbonna, Ph.D is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Development, Peace and Conflict Studies, at Kampala International University, Uganda, where he also serves as the Research Coordinator. He is an interdisciplinary scholar whose areas of specialization encompass: Human Rights and Social Development; Communal Security Dilemma; Inter and Intra-Tribal Relations; International Relations and Power Dynamics; Indigenous Knowledge Emancipation and Non-violent Civil Resistance Paradigm. He is a Fellow and External Examiner of the UNESCO Chair Philosophy for Peace, Universitat Jaume I, Spain, a Research Fellow of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Research, University of Granada, Spain. He is an academic friend of Indigenous Peoples of the world. He is the author of “Belligerent Peace”. 

Sara Olvig, International Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council

International Chair of Inuit Circumpolar Council Sara Olsvig is a Ph.D.-fellow at Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland, and member of the Human Rights Council of Greenland. Olsvig has served as member of the Parliament of Denmark, member of the Parliament of Greenland, leader of the political party Inuit Ataqatigiit and as Vice Premier and Minister of Social Affairs, Families, Gender Equality and Justice in the Government of Greenland. Sara was also the Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region from 2013 to 2014. She is Inuk and lives in Nuuk, Greenland. 

Paul Kanyinke Sena, Director, Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee

Dr. Paul Kanyinke Sena holds a Doctorate in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy from the University of Arizona. He is the Director of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee, a network of 135 Indigenous Peoples organizations in 22 countries in Africa. Dr. Sena also teaches human rights and environmental law at the Faculty of Law, Egerton University, Kenya. Previously he served as a member and Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and as a member of the African Commission Working Group on Indigenous Populations. He has also served at Conservation International Indigenous Advisory Boards, UN REDD Policy Board among others. 

Gam Awungshi Shimray, Secretary General, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

Gam A. Shimray is Naga and has been a human rights activist for almost 30 years. He has held important positions and was part of several civil and democratic rights initiatives in Asia. He has dedicated his time to advancing Indigenous Peoples’ rights and democracy in Asia. He also has advanced knowledge and experience working with the grassroots on the issues of biodiversity, Indigenous Knowledge, self-determination and peacebuilding. In addition, he has authored publications on human rights, the environment, and ethnic issues.

Rodion Sulyandziga, Head of the Centre of Support to Indigenous Peoples of the North

Rodion Sulyandziga has many years of solid experience working on the promotion and protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights at the local and global level including UN human rights mechanisms and bodies. Being of Udege (“Forest People”) Indigenous origin, Rodion has first-hand knowledge of challenges faced by Indigenous peoples in his region and globally. Through his international and regional advocacy, documentation, and research, Rodion is a well-recognized promoter of the rights of Indigenous peoples. He has been the co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change leading to the Paris Agreement (2012-2016) and on the IP Global coordination committee of the UN High Level Plenary/World Conference on indigenous peoples (2013-2015). He held two UN positions as a member of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2019-2022) under the HRC and of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform under the UNFCCC (2018-2021). He has a Ph.D. in Social Science.

Gustavo Adolfo Torres Cisneros, General Coordinator, Transversality and Regional Operation of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples

Born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca on March 22, 1969, he graduated from the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH) with honors in Social Anthropology in 1994. He studied Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the UNAM, Mexico, from 1989 to 1994. He studied for a master’s degree in Ethnohistory at the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico in 1994. He obtained a master’s degree in Anthropology and History of Religions from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Section des Sciences Religieuses, Sorbonne, Paris, in 1995; and in 2001 from the same academy, he received a doctorate in Religious Anthropology with a “Très Honorable” mention. He received diplomatic training at the Matias Romero Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico City from 2009 to 2010. He speaks English, French, Dutch and has also studied indigenous languages of Mexico such as Nahuatl and Mixe. 

He has worked as an ethnographic researcher, professor of Spanish, Mixe and Mesoamerican Mythology, student advisor at the Faculty of European Studies and the Department of Anthropology at the Universities of Amsterdam and Utrecht, translator of the book “Cruzando Fronteras. Reflections on the relevance of historical, symbolic and almost disappeared borders in Latin America.”, planner and executor of indigenous consultation events, director of International Affairs of the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (2005-2007), participant in the negotiations of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with the OAS, participant in the negotiations on Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Folklore at WIPO and participant in the negotiations on the position of the Government of Mexico before the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property and Artistic Expressions of UNESCO, as well as Presenter of the Government of Mexico before the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues of the UN in New York, and recently Alternate Representative to the Organization of American States based in Washington from 2018 to 2022. He is a member of the Société des Américanistes de Paris and the Mexican Society of Anthropology. He has about 29 publications, which can be found in Spanish, French, English and German. 

Aleksei Tsykarev, Chair, Center for Support of Indigenous Peoples and Civic Diplomacy (Young Karelia)

Aleksei Tsykarev chairs the Center for Support of Indigenous Peoples and Civic Diplomacy (Young Karelia), an Indigenous NGO under special consultative status with ECOSOC. From 2013 to 2022, Mr. Tsykarev served as an independent expert in several United Nations capacities. He is a former Member and Chairperson-Rapporteur of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and former Member and Vice Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. He served on the Steering Committee for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032. Mr. Tsykarev has been a consultant at the World Bank, a resource person at the UN Institute for Training and Research and currently is Programme Director of the School of Civic Diplomacy at MGIMO University of International Affairs. Mr. Tsykarev holds a Master of Linguistics and is a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado. His publications and presentations focus on human rights and international diplomacy.