CIP Deputy Minister Calivat Gadu (top, left) and Dr. Wilton Littlechild (top, right) are joined by indigenous experts from around the world April 21 during a webinar titled “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: The Role of Indigenous People in Implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16.” (Courtesy of CIP)
 

The Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples staged a webinar titled “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: The Role of Indigenous People in Implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16” April 21 as part of government efforts spotlighting the ways Taiwan Can Help realize the U.N. Agenda 2030.

Co-organized in cooperation with Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, the event coincided with the 20th session of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues running April 19-30. Participants included experts, advocates, practitioners and defenders of indigenous rights from like-minded partner countries including Canada, New Zealand and the U.S.

During the event, CIP Deputy Minister Calivat Gadu said Taiwan has extensive experience in matters of ethnic reconciliation and achieving indigenous and transitional justice.

President Tsai Ing-wen made eight promises in her apology to indigenous peoples on behalf of the government, Gadu said, adding that the Presidential Office Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee has worked tirelessly for the past three years on language revitalization, construction of an indigenous historical perspective and realization of land justice.

Other high-profile attendees at the event included Dr. Wilton Littlechild of First Nations in Canada; Andrew Lee, founder of Harvard’s Honoring Nations program; Professor Angela R. Riley of University of California, Los Angeles’s Native Nations Law and Policy Center; Professor Claire Charters of Auckland University’s Aotearoa New Zealand Center for Indigenous Peoples and the Law; Dr. Debby Lin of Harvard Medical School; and Victor Lopez-Carmen of Global Indigenous Youth Caucus.

Established in 2000, the UNPFII is responsible for the global body’s work on indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. (DL-E)