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Kia ora. This website is designed to provide information for Maori and other interested groups on the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and related issues.

UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples : HTML| PDF

ACTION & INFORMATION RESOURCES QUICK NEWS

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.]

An online petition on public participation in establishing the NZ government position on the text of the dDRIP has been set up to seek a more open and honest process for developing NZ's positions on the draft Declaration. Please take a moment to sign this if you support the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can make a big difference. We are trying to reach 5,000 signatures by early January - please SIGN HERE // more ideas for action...

[17/12/05] NZ government considered 'hostile' toward Indigenous Peoples everywhere // Criticism levelled by Amnesty International at the government's 'package' of suggested amendments to the draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva, will be an embarrassment for the Labour government coming so close on the heals of the recent visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal in relation the Foreshore and Seabed legislation and the UNCERD decision earlier this year that also found the legislation discriminates against Maori >>> more...

[16/12/05] Amnesty International criticises NZ government position // A group of international human rights organisations have joined indigenous peoples groups and other countries in their opposition to the hostile position taken by New Zealand, Australia and the United States at a UN meeting on the rights of indigenous peoples. >>> more...

UPDATES FROM GENEVA:

22 December 2005 - "Given that New Zealand is now one of the most conservative states in the WG dDRIP negotiations, my view is that Maori should support the indigenous peoples' caucus (not to mention indigenous peoples world-wide) in attempting to prevent New Zealand from watering down the Draft Declaration to an unacceptable level..."

Read the Full Report from Claire Charters (Te Arawa) on behalf of the Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust at the UN in Geneva.

Kia ora. This website is designed to provide information for Maori and other interested groups on the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and related issues.
UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples : HTML\| PDF
ACTION & INFORMATION RESOURCES	QUICK NEWS
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.] An online petition on public participation in establishing the NZ government position on the text of the dDRIP has been set up to seek a more open and honest process for developing NZ's positions on the draft Declaration. Please take a moment to sign this if you support the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can make a big difference. We are trying to reach 5,000 signatures by early January - please SIGN HERE // more ideas for action...	[17/12/05] NZ government considered 'hostile' toward Indigenous Peoples everywhere // Criticism levelled by Amnesty International at the government's 'package' of suggested amendments to the draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva, will be an embarrassment for the Labour government coming so close on the heals of the recent visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal in relation the Foreshore and Seabed legislation and the UNCERD decision earlier this year that also found the legislation discriminates against Maori >>> more... [16/12/05] Amnesty International criticises NZ government position // A group of international human rights organisations have joined indigenous peoples groups and other countries in their opposition to the hostile position taken by New Zealand, Australia and the United States at a UN meeting on the rights of indigenous peoples. >>> more...
UPDATES FROM GENEVA: 22 December 2005 - "Given that New Zealand is now one of the most conservative states in the WG dDRIP negotiations, my view is that Maori should support the indigenous peoples' caucus (not to mention indigenous peoples world-wide) in attempting to prevent New Zealand from watering down the Draft Declaration to an unacceptable level..." Read the Full Report from Claire Charters (Te Arawa) on behalf of the Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust at the UN in Geneva.