Dr. Valmaine Toki has been named chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
University of Waikato law professor Dr. Valmaine Toki (Ngāti Rehua, Ngāti Wai, Ngāpuhi) has been named chair of the UN’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), reported the NZ Herald.
Toki was the first New Zealander and Māori appointed to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She began actively contributing to EMRIP in 2022, advocating for the global progression of Indigenous rights via her work in the academe.
Her research and writing concentrates on indigenous legal systems and the recognition of indigenous rights.
“As you know, the mandate of the Expert Mechanism is to give advice to the Human Rights Council and to assist member states and indigenous peoples to realise the end of the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples,” Toki said in her address at the 17th session of the UN Expert Mechanism held in Geneva, where the announcement of her appointment was made.
Toki’s fellow professor Margaret Mutu added in a statement published by the Herald that electing “a wāhine Māori from Aotearoa, with significant expertise in indigenous rights and law” to the leadership role was “a cause for celebration”. Mutu expressed her eagerness to collaborate with Toki in this capacity.
“It is ironic that, while Māori expertise and leadership are acknowledged on the international stage, the New Zealand coalition Government and political climate has taken our relationship with the state and progress on indigenous, human and climate rights back more than 40 years,” Mutu said.
The UN Expert Mechanism is a subsidiary of the Human Rights Council. It has over 700 indigenous participants.
