{"id":95203,"date":"2026-07-24T17:15:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/24\/indigenous-leaders-give-the-un-a-roadmap-for-protecting-their-peoples\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T17:15:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:15:50","slug":"indigenous-leaders-give-the-un-a-roadmap-for-protecting-their-peoples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/24\/indigenous-leaders-give-the-un-a-roadmap-for-protecting-their-peoples\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous leaders give the UN a roadmap for protecting their peoples"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Amidst prayers and vows of solidarity, UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ends annual meetings with demands for \u2018action we\u2019re not seeing globally\u2019  Indigenous delegates from every continent listen during a session of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva last week. Photo by Dionne Phillips    This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance.        Indigenous communities around the world face mounting \u2014 and colliding \u2014 impacts from climate change, violence, resource extraction, artificial intelligence, and many other crises.    And at the United Nations in Geneva last week, their leaders united in demanding that the international community take action.    They\u2019ve given the UN a 12-point plan for what they say it must do.    Simply put, their proposal calls on the UN and governments around the world to take sweeping and rapid action to protect Indigenous land, rights, and lives.    At the United Nations\u2019 headquarters in Geneva, hundreds of delegates wrapped up this year\u2019s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) meetings last week.    The UN body\u2019s seven expert panelists, representing every region of the world, considered a week of Indigenous testimony before issuing recommendations for the UN Human Rights Council.    But amidst hope for change, the massive financial crisis engulfing the UN overshadowed the proceedings.    Numerous delegates expressed concerns about the very future of EMRIP itself, and other hard-won international platforms for Indigenous voices.    Many EMRIP delegates noted significant work is urgently needed to uphold, protect and expand Indigenous rights across the globe.    Photo by Dionne Phillips    \u2018We\u2019re looking for action\u2019    Given the scale of threats Indigenous peoples face, these forums are more important than ever, said Sheryl Lightfoot, an Anishinaabe expert on international law and EMRIP\u2019s North America region expert.    Despite \u201cthe progress we\u2019ve made,\u201d she said in an interview, \u201csometimes we see some regression.    \u201cThere\u2019s clearly no shortage of work.\u201d    The breadth of the 12 recommendations reflects that urgency, in their call to protect the culture and rights of Indigenous peoples and give them a greater voice in global affairs impacting them.    McGuire-Cyrette also feared cuts to Indigenous programs as a result of the UN\u2019s US$1.6-billion (C$2.3-billion) financial shortfall \u2014 exacerbated by the United States\u2019 refusal to pay the nearly US$4 billion it owes in dues (C$5.6 billion).    The crisis is engulfing all UN agencies, especially funds specifically earmarked for Indigenous Peoples, which were already stretched.    Cora McGuire-Cyrette, member of the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek, spoke in Geneva on behalf of the Ontario Native Women\u2019s Association (ONWA) about the importance of involving Indigenous women and girls \u2014 and \u201cnot simply be consulted\u201d \u2014 in decisions that affect them.    \u201cWe\u2019re looking for action,\u201d she said in an interview.    \u201cOur communities \u2014 our women, our children, our families \u2014 they have a right to action and that\u2019s what we\u2019re not seeing globally.\u201d    She and others also reminded delegates about the importance of greater autonomy for Indigenous women and girls.    \u201cWe recommend the inclusion of Indigenous women in all decisions that impact our lives, our families, and our nations,\u201d McGuire-Cyrette told the assembly.    Those calls echo what delegates from every continent demanded throughout the week of meetings: governments must do more than simply consult Indigenous peoples on matters affecting their territories and communities.    \u201cThe liquidity crisis must not be used as an excuse to limit the mandate of EMRIP and to reduce the frequency or depth of country engagements or follow up,\u201d McGuire-Cyrette said in one of her EMRIP interventions.    The forum is important for Indigenous women\u2019s safety, participation and leadership around the world, and called on UN member states to \u201ctake seriously\u201d their commitment and obligation towards human rights and fully pay their contributions to the UN system.    Illustration by Grist, photos by Dionne Phillips    \u2018Unanswered questions\u2019 over future    Marjolaine \u00c9tienne, who is Innu from the Pekuakamiulnuatsh community of Mashteuiatsh in Quebec, told delegates the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples needs greater support.    The program helps Indigenous representatives cover the costs of attending international meetings.    The number of representatives the fund supports is already perilously low, she said. Without greater state contributions, fewer delegates will be able to attend those forums, sidelining them from the international stage.    Currently, she said, the number of people the fund supports is a mere three to five per cent of participants.    Just eight countries contribute to the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples, with a budget of less than US$2 million (C$2.5 million), and only three countries contributed to the UN Trust Fund for Indigenous Peoples. The \u201cUS\u201d contributes to neither fund, while the Government of Canada gave to both.    Without adequate state contributions, fewer and fewer delegates are able to benefit, and therefore their voices are effectively sidelined and silenced on the international stage.    Lightfoot acknowledged there is widespread uncertainty within EMRIP, and all UN bodies, amidst an agency-wide reform effort, known as \u201cUN80.\u201d    But she said EMRIP is preparing for whatever happens.    \u201cThere are a lot of unanswered questions right now\u201d about the reforms, she said, \u201cand what the impacts of that might be for Indigenous-specific mechanisms.    \u201cI don\u2019t know where we\u2019re going. I don\u2019t know what kind of efficiencies the UN will ask of us. But I know we are thinking it through because we want to be ready to respond.\u201d    Pacific region EMRIP expert Valmaine Toki chaired the final meeting, and spoke about the panel\u2019s 12 proposals \u2014 including one addressing the UN\u2019s dire fiscal situation, titled \u201cThe implementation of EMRIP\u2019s mandate in the context of the liquidity and financial crisis.\u201d    EMRIP is one of the three UN bodies focused on Indigenous issues \u2014 along with the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.    All three agencies face an uncertain future due to dwindling financial support.    Pacific region EMRIP expert Valmaine Toki, from Aoteoroa (New Zealand), speaks during a session she chaired. Photo by Dionne Phillips    Challenges and opportunities    With 2027 marking 20 years of the UN Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), there were mixed emotions in Geneva about its success so far \u2014 and about the very future of the agreement.    Albert Barume \u2014 the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and EMRIP\u2019s former chairperson \u2014 spoke to delegates about what he called a widespread trend of \u201cstagnation and regression\u201d for human rights.    Instead, the veteran international law expert warned, powerful political and economic interests have too often taken priority over Indigenous rights.    \u201cIn the last years \u2026 almost no single states have taken a new measure protecting Indigenous peoples\u2019 rights,\u201d said Barume, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. \u201cAnd states that had legal and policy frameworks are actively dismantling and regressing.\u201d    Macy Duxfield \u2014 who is M\u0101ori from the Ngaa Rauru, Te \u0100tihaunui-a-Pap\u0101rangi, and Ng\u0101i Tahu nations \u2014 spoke in an interview on regressive policies in her home of Aotearoa (New Zealand).    Frustrated by what she called \u201creally regressive\u201d legislative and policy changes at home, she said, she is \u201cupset about what\u2019s going on right in front of us.\u201d    But she reminds herself of the continual work that\u2019s still needed to overcome the challenges her people face.    \u201cWe exist in this moment,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve inherited the work from our ancestors, and we pass it on to our descendants.\u201d    McGuire-Cyrette recognized there may be opportunities that could arise from UNDRIP\u2019s 20th anniversary \u2014 especially as anti-Indigenous rhetoric increases in many countries, including Canada.    \u201cI think there\u2019s an opportunity for prioritizing Indigenous women,\u201d she said, \u201cprioritizing Indigenous women\u2019s safety, prioritizing Indigenous women\u2019s rights.\u201d    Hundreds of participants attend EMRIP meetings in Geneva. Photo by Dionne Phillips    Calls for consent, not just consultation    As EMRIP came to a close after five days last week, Indigenous experts from the body\u2019s seven regions put forward 12 proposals for the UN Human Rights Council.    The recommendations emerged from the previous four days of testimony from Indigenous delegates and governments \u2014 on a broad agenda that included studying impacts on Indigenous commuinities in conflict and post-conflict areas, AI, and the International Decade of Indigenous languages.    Also discussed was how to mark two decades since the creation of UNDRIP \u2014 and what EMPRIP\u2019s own future holds.    Toki read out the experts\u2019 12 proposals for the upcoming year.    One proposal was to convene a panel about UNDRIP\u2019s 20th anniversary, which will address achievements and emerging challenges to \u201cenhance its future work.\u201d    Another proposal addressed EMRIP\u2019s mandate amidst the financial crisis.    The experts also called for increased protection of Indigenous leaders and human rights defenders from persecution.    And they urged the UN Human Rights Council to encourage member states to accept the findings of EMRIP\u2019s study on conflict and post-conflict situations.    One proposal urged greater protections for remote Indigenous peoples, who live in voluntary isolation or initial contact.    Subsequent recommendations tackled concerns about AI; preserving Indigenous languages; Indigenous rights in non-self-governing territories; enshrining Indigenous rights as distinct from other types of human rights; fully implementing UNDRIP; boosting participation within the Human Rights Council; and calling on member states to more fully engage with EMRIP.    Free, prior and informed consent was a widely discussed demand woven throughout the week\u2019s agenda.    Lightfoot expressed concern about businesses, governments and other agencies claiming to uphold free, prior and informed consent without actually following through.    \u201cIndigenous peoples have the right to provide consent or withhold consent on matters that affect their rights \u2014 to varying degrees depending on the impact on them,\u201d Lightfoot said.    \u201cWhen you look deeper, it isn\u2019t really consent-based \u2014 it\u2019s merely an expanded or enhanced consultation.\u201d    And even if obtaining Indigenous consent may require a new way of thinking for some governments and companies, she said, \u201cThat is the human rights standard.\u201d    This year\u2019s EMRIP meeting is expert member Sheryl Lightfoot\u2019s last in her role representing \u2018North America\u2019 at the global body, after completing two consecutive terms of three years. Photo by Dionne Phillips    Future depends on \u2018critically important\u2019 Youth voices    While the future of Indigenous-centred spaces at the global level remains uncertain, there was a common acknowledgement as this year\u2019s EMRIP meetings ended: listening and uplifting the voices of Youth is essential.    \u201cIt\u2019s critically important \u2026 as we press for the implementation of the declaration, that the Youth become centred,\u201d Barume said.     \u201cTheir parents, their grandparents spent tens of years negotiating those standards. It\u2019s time that those standards are implemented.\u201d    Recounting his experiences listening to Youth, he praised \u201ctheir determination, their creativity, and their embedding into their community culture.\u201d    One of the Indigenous Youth who spent the week in Geneva was Sophia Carnovale, who is Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River.    She is ONWA\u2019s vice-president, and a Youth Council board member.    She told IndigiNews that she descends from a long line of Matriarchs, and as a young Indigenous person feels a \u201cresponsibility to continue their efforts.\u201d    \u201cI never thought I\u2019d be here,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I feel like there\u2019s a legacy that the Matriarchs before me left.\u201d    The meetings ended Friday with a closing ceremony, a Mapuche song, and a M\u0101ori haka dance.    Lightfoot offered Anishinaabemowin words of gratitude on her final EMRIP assembly as EMRIP\u2019s \u201cNorth America\u201d representative, after serving two three-year terms.    \u201cI send you a chi-miigwech, thank you my colleagues,\u201d she said, emotionally. \u201cIt has been such an honour.\u201d    The entire audience rose in a standing ovation after she spoke. Fellow EMRIP expert representative Anexa Alfred Cunningham \u2014 of the Miskitu people of Nicaragua, who was barred from returning home in alleged retaliation for her UN advocacy \u2014 wished delegates safe travels to their homelands.    \u201cMay the spirit of co-operation and our ancestors, who are with us today and this week, continue to be with us until we achieve the goals,\u201d she said.    We live in a media ecosystem that thrives on misinformation. Big Tech and AI companies are consuming the work of real human beings and Canadian news has been banned on Facebook and Instagram.    And yet, I have hope for journalism because of the work we\u2019re doing at IndigiNews.   At IndigiNews, we embody t\u00e2pw\u00eawin \u2014 the Cree value of integrity and responsibility in truth-telling. We are committed to our independent, Indigenous-led newsroom rooted in community, accountability, and relationality. We believe storytelling is a sacred fire that connects our pasts, presents, and futures through the storytellers in our Storytelling Lodge. IndigiNews creates space for Indigenous journalists, storytellers, Knowledge Keepers, and communities to gather, learn, and share stories that matter.   As a registered charity, we are building a fire that allows our work not just to ignite but to thrive. Rather than relying on advertising or corporate acquisition, IndigiNews is sustained by people like you who believe Indigenous stories are important for the future of our communities.   Your support is making a real difference.   Our community of supporters, our Firekeepers, make it possible to grow our newsroom, publish award-winning journalism, train emerging Indigenous journalists through initiatives like the ReFocus Photojournalism Fellowship, and publish trustworthy stories that serve our communities across the country. Every story we publish helps fill in gaps left by mainstream media and ensures Indigenous perspectives are represented with care, accuracy and respect.   But there is still more work to do.   As the media landscape becomes more and more uncertain, community support is as necessary and essential as it\u2019s ever been. Every new Firekeeper helps protect the independence of our newsroom and strengthens journalism that is accountable to our many and varied communities over corporations.   That\u2019s why we\u2019re inviting you to become a Firekeeper.   Firekeepers tend to and protect the sacred fire. Your monthly contributions directly support IndigiNews\u2019s Storytelling Lodge, helps sustain our independent, Indigenous-led newsroom, and ensures future generations of Indigenous storytellers have the resources they need to do the work.   As a registered Canadian charity, all eligible donations receive a charitable tax receipt.   If you believe Indigenous stories matter, if you value independent journalism, and if you want to help build a strong future for Indigenous media, we invite you to join our circle of Firekeepers today.   Together, we can keep the fire burning.   \u2014 Eden Fineday, Publisher, IndigiNews    Support us now <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amidst prayers and vows of solidarity, UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ends annual meetings with demands for \u2018action we\u2019re not seeing globally\u2019 Indigenous delegates from every continent listen during a session of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva last week. 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