NEW INTERNATIONALIST
International efforts to protect the rights of the world’s aboriginal communities seem to be gaining strength. In April, as hundreds of indigenous leaders gathered for the ninth annual session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the government of New Zealand/Aotearoa declared it was ready to sign on to the international agreement that recognizes indigenous peoples’ rights. ‘Today, New Zealand changes its position,’ said Dr Pita Sharples, Minister of Maori Affairs, announcing that his country was ready to embrace the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples.
New Internationalist for more