FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT MAORI & THE DDRIP   1. WHO ARE THE NZ GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES AND WHAT IS THEIR MANDATE? NZ government delegations are lead by Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT) staff from the NZ Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva as well as Wellington-based MFAT personnel. Staff from other government departments such as Te Puni Kokiri and the Ministry of Justice also attend. The Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet [DPMC] have taken on an increasingly active role in leading NZ's approach to Maori policy in general, and NZ's approach to the dDRIP. Ideally the mandate for any government contribution to the negotiations on the draft Declaration [dDRIP] should involve a whole of government discussion and agreement and a Cabinet approval for a particular position and approach. Ideally, the position should also be presented to Maori before the Cabinet process in order to incorporate Maori views into the final position. This process has occured in the past, but very rarely. 2. WHEN WERE MAORI LAST CONSULTED ON NZ'S POSITION ON THE DDRIP? 9 August 2003 was the last time Maori as a national collective were consulted or involved in a considered and meaningful discussion on NZ's negotiating position on each Article of the dDRIP. The 2003 meeting was organised by Aroha Mead and Ngatata Love of Victoria University of Wellington. A communique from the meeting was developed providing a response to the Crown's approach aand was disseminated widely. The Crown never acknowledged receipt of the Communique or responded to its contents. Since 9 August 2003, there has never been a Maori collective meeting convened by government on the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. A position paper from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade was presented to the Technical Meeting convened by Ngatata Love & Aroha Mead on 9 August 2003. Since this paper was presented, the Crown has not conducted any further meetings with Maori as a collective, nor has the Crown released any additional information or elaboration on it's dDRIP position. While officials are claiming the official position has not changed at all - the comments and explanations offered by the Crown at the December 2005 dDRIP Working Group go far beyond the explanations offered in the 2003 MFAT paper. [Read the report and communique issued by participants after the 2003 meeting.] 3. WHO HAS BEEN REPRESENTING MAORI INTERESTS? Many Maori from whanau, hapu, iwi and national Maori organisations participated in the original drafting sessions of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations {WGIP} responsible for the current draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The very first Maori delegation to attend and contribute to the WGIP was in 1988 and comprised six people: Alec Kaihau, Aroha Kaihau, Nganeko Minhinnick [Ngati Te Ata], Aroha Te Pareake Mead [Ngati Awa & Ngati Porou], Joe Williams [Pare Hauraki] and Hinewhare Harawira [Waitangi Action Committee] and two members of the Aotearoa Social Workers Network, Hare Arapera [Raukawa] and John Bradley [Rangitane]. Maori joined the dDRIP negotiations four years into the elaboration process. According to Aroha Te Pareake Mead, from 1988 to 1993 when the WGIP concluded its work on the dDRIP, over 50 Maori representatives had contributed to the drafting process during that 6-year period, joining those who had attended on a consistent basis [i.e. for more than 3 years]; Nganeko and Roimata Minhinnick [Ngati Te Ata], Aroha Mead [Ngati Awa], Moana Jackson [Ngati Kahungunu], Irihapeti Murchie [Human Rigts Commission & Ngai Tahu attended as part of the NZ government delegation], Carolyn Bull [Human Rights Commission & Ngai Tahu]. In future sessions of the WGIP, Human Rights Commission representatives were accredited outside of government. From 1988 to 1993, most Maori representatives were mandated by hapu, Iwi authorities and national Maori organisations. The National Maori Congress took a leadership role in Maori delegations to WGIP sessions as did the Human Rights Commission and the former Wellington Maori Legal Service. Many Iwi and Iwi regions were consistent participants in the WGIP drafting sessions, e.g. Ngati Te Ata, Ngati Awa, Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai Te Rangi and Tai Tokerau. The current text of the dDRIP therefore represents the experiences, aspirations and work not only of indigenous peoples globally, but also of the many Maori who travelled to Geneva and whose contributions on behalf of their Iwi and/or organisations are directly reflected in the text of the draft Declaration. The contribution of Maori to the process both within the indigenous caucus and in the actual WGIP meetings was substantial and constructive and is still remembered and respected by indigenous peoples and others to this day. In 1993, the dDRIP left the Working Group and was passed to the Centre for Human Rights to undertake a technical review. In 1994 at the meeting that considered the Centre's Technical Review feedback, Maori joined with many other indigenous peoples, in a passive protest at the suggestion by some states that the Draft Declaration should be opened for complete renegotiation. The view of many indigenous participants at that time was that the draft Declaration had been the collective effort of thousands of indigenous participants and of many States. The text had been negotiated amongst indigenous peoples within the caucus, and between indigenous peoples and States. As such it was considered that any amendments should be minimal rather than substantive as the dDRIP had already undergone a 10-year negotiation to reach the final 1993 draft. In 1994, indigenous participants also indicated that one right above any and all others had to be recognized within the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - that right being the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination. The form of passive protest taken was to 'walk away from the negotiations'. Maori have never been back as a full delegation, mandated by a wider collective than a community or a network ever since 1994. The decision to walk away wasn't made lightly, but nor was it made on the basis of a comprehensive discussion amongst Maori. By today's standards, it would be very difficult for any Maori delegation to take a similar action without a due process for consultation. Since 1995, the dDRIP is being discussed at an open-ended inter-sessional Working group on the draft Declaration [WGDD]. The WGDD is a subsidiary organ of the Commission on Human Rights and is tasked with finalising the draft Declaration and moving it through the UN system to the UN General Assembly for adoption. It is composed of representatives of Member States. As in similar human rights bodies, non-governmental and indigenous organisation with consultative status with the Economic & Social Council may take part in the proceedings. However, Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1995/32 also sets out a procedure for participation for indigenous organisations without consultative status. The main point that needs to be stressed, is that anyone wishing to attend, must go through a formal accreditation process and cannot simply 'show-up' at the meetings without accreditation. Maori participants in annual meetings of the WGDD from 1994 to 2005, Tracey Whare [Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust], Claire Charters [Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust], Teanau Tuiono [Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust], Taki Anaru [Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust], Tony Sinclair & Moana Sinclair-Durie [Te Kawau Maro], Raewyn Bennet [Ngai Te Rangi], and others, have continued to maintain a position of non-negotiation. It is timely for Maori to develop a more comprehensive view on the implications of the dDRIP for our whanau, hapu and Iwi, as well as to discuss in detail negotiating positions on specific Articles of the dDRIP as well as on the strategic direction of the draft. While further discussion amongst Maori will provide greater detail, insight and participation, it is highly doubtful that it would change the current disatisfaction with the lack of effort and integrity of the Crown in relation to informing, seeking input and reflecting the views of Maori. 4. WHO HAS BEEN FUNDING MAORI PARTICIPATION IN THE DRAFT DECLARATION PROCESS? For the most part, Maori who have attended dDRIP meetings have been funded through the UN Voluntary Fund, NGO networks, whanau, hapu, Iwi and Maori organisations, tertiary institutions and foreign governments, or they have funded themselves. Te Puni Kokiri used to provide funding to Maori delegates in the early process, but Cabinet subsequently decreed that no government funding was to be allocated to Maori attendees to future dDRIP or WGDD meetings. As far as we know this remains the status quo. One can only speculate on how many governments in the world have actually decided at an Executive [Cabinet] level that as a matter of principle they would not fund indigenous representatives to attend international standard-setting indigenous rights mettings. In the NZ context, this is a purely race-based decision that disrespects skills, experience, expertise, and leadership of Maori nationally and in the international arena. Government has provided funding for Maori to participate in lunch-time special interest workshops during meetings of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations. It has done so in a closed internal process rather than through any open process seeking national expressions of interest and applications. Government has not funded Maori to participate in the actual working technical sessions of the WGIP or dDRIP meetings. This distinction is particular relevant in the current discussions about the restrucutring of the UN Human Rights Commission. The NZ government does not support the continuation of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and yet it routinely funds Maori participants to WGIP to showcase Maori/NZ initiatives. Te Puni Kokiri provided a modest financial grant to the two Maori who received a UN Human Rights Fellowship [Tracey Whare (1988 - Ngati Raukawa, Te Whanau-a-Apanui) ) & Catherine Davis (2005 - Te Rarawa). TPK also funded a full 2-year secondment for Moana Sinclair-Durie to the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. While TPK does not lead Crown policy on indigenous issues - it remains the only Crown agency that provides financial support to Maori, albeit on a very limited and restrictive basis. Maori have consistently asked the Crown to establish a National Fund for Maori to attend the dDRIP, UN Permanent Forum and other relevant international negotiations and processes, and to establish a National Selection Committee. To date, the Crown has not yet done so. The Crown needs to be more responsible to Maori through enabling greater involvement in policy, resouces for Maori networks, infra-structure and capacity-bulding initiatives, as well as through providing financial support for direct Maori participation in the dDRIP and other relevant international processes. The Crown also has the opportunity to contribute to the UN Voluntary Fund for indigenous participation at the various relevant indigenous human rights bodies and processes. NZ's contributions to the Voluntary Fund have decreased in value over the past few years and have been erratic. For example, NZ did not make any contribution to the Voluntary Fund between 1997-2001, nor for 2003-2005. Click on this link for details: http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/funds/indigenous/Contributions.htm 4. HOW CAN WHANAU/HAPU/IWI GET INVOLVED WITH THIS KAUPAPA? Click here.   5. WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE? Click here.