Summary Note 15 (December 2023)
This Summary presents the discussions held, in person and online, during the 16th session of the EMRIP, July 17 to 21, 2023.
To be a Docip volunteer involves putting one’s skills at the service of indigenous delegates during their participation in the UN arena.
The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) is a subsidiary body of the United Nations' Human Rights Council (HRC). The HRC was established in 2006 by the UN General Assembly and is the main UN intergovernmental body dealing with human rights. The Human Rights Council created EMRIP in 2007 in HRC resolution 6/36. The EMRIP meets once a year for five days.
According to its mandate, EMRIP will:
• Provide the Human Rights Council with expertise and advice on the rights of indigenous peoples as set out in the UNDRIP
• Assist Member States, upon request, in achieving the ends of the Declaration through the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the rights of indigenous peoples.
EMRIP’s new methods of work with respect to country engagement activities are set out on the section : “EMRIP working methodologies”.
The Expert Mechanism is one of three UN bodies that is mandated to deal specifically with Indigenous Peoples’ issues. The others are the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
For more information, visit the official EMRIP site
EMRIP is composed of 7 independent experts, one from each of the seven indigenous sociocultural regions, who are named for a period of three years, renewable once.
The regions are: Africa; Asia; Central and South America and the Caribbean; the Arctic; Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia; North America; and the Pacific.
Mr. Binota Moy DHAMAI (Bangladesh) (2026)
Ms. Sheryl LIGHTFOOT (Canada) (2024)
Ms. Margaret LOKAWA (Uganda) (2024)
Ms. Dalee Sambo Dorough (United States of America) (2026)
Ms. Antonina GORBUNOVA (Russian Federation (Russian Federation) (2025)
Ms. Anexa Brendalee ALFRED CUNNINGHAM (Nicaragua) (2025)
Ms. Valmaine TOKI (New Zealand) (2025)
The Chair of the EMRIP is nominated annually at the start of the session.
If you wish to get in touch with them, contact the EMRIP Secretariat at: ohchr-expertmechanism(at)un.org.
