UNDRIP: Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa - Theory and Practice
Notwithstanding the progress made through all the tribunal reports and court cases from
the 1980s, and the consequential changes in legislation and official policy, I would still
rank the day that New Zealand gave support to the Declaration as the most significant
day, in advancing Maori rights, since 6th February 1840."
-Sir Edward Taihakurei Durie
Symposium in Hamilton, New Zealand, 24-25 July, 2014
The aim of this two day Symposium is to explore and promote greater understanding of the implications of New Zealand’s endorsement of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for New Zealand law and policy on Māori rights. Read more »
Keynote Speaker - Professor S. James Anaya
The American James J. Lenoir Professor of Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law, Professor S. James Anaya will be a leading figure at the conference.
Professor Anaya is of Apache and Purepecha descent. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico (B.A., 1980) and Harvard Law School (J.D., 1983), and is widely recognized as the leading scholar on indigenous peoples and human rights. His book Indigenous Peoples in International Law (Oxford Univ. Press, 1996) established a human rights normative framework for the support of indigenous rights in international law that received widespread support from both states and indigenous activists.
In March 2008, he was appointed by the United Nations as its Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples. Since his appointment, Professor Anaya has issued dozens of reports, communications and statements on human rights violations. Most recently he produced a major report on extractive industries and indigenous peoples that has been welcomed by indigenous leaders across the globe. More »
Keynote Speaker - Professor Michael James ‘Mick’ Dodson
Professor Mick Dodson is a member of the Yawuru peoples, the traditional Aboriginal owners of land and waters in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. He is a Professor of Law at the Australian National University’s College of Law and Director of the ANU National Centre for Indigenous Studies.
Professor Dodson participated in the crafting of the text of the Declaration in the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, which established the core self-determination framework for the Declaration.
Professor Dodson was the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner for Human Rights and Equal Opportunity in Australia (April 1993 to January 1998). In January 2005 to 2010 Dodson was an expert member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. In 2009 Professor Dodson was named Australian of the Year by the National Australia Day Council. More »