Ambassador Chartier attends the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

April 20, 2023

Ambassador Chartier attended the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from April 17 to 19th in New York City.

During his time at the Permanent Forum and at several side-events and receptions, Ambassador Chartier had an opportunity to meet and exchange greetings with a number of Indigenous people including Ms. Deb Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo Indian who was appointed by President Biden to his Cabinet, serving as Secretary of the Interior, as well as Ambassador Zalabata Torres, an Arhuaco Indian woman appointed in 2022 as Colombia's Ambassador to the United Nations.

In addition to meeting friends and former colleagues, Ambassador Chartier had a side meeting with representatives of the Guatemalan government who were at the Antigua Guatemala Organization of American States (OAS) meeting in March hosted by the Guatemalan government. At this side meeting, Ambassador Chartier, along with ACIP Secretary Brooklyn Rivera, Ms. June Lorenzo of Indigenous World Association and Carlos Chex of Guatemala discussed the follow-up action plans of the Guatemalan government to ensure that the Working Group Mechanism for the implementation of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (ADRIP) adopted at the March meeting is approved by the OAS GA at it's upcoming June General Assembly to be held in Washington, DC.

It was confirmed that Guatemala is organizing a meeting of Member States in May to discuss moving this forward through its approval system so that it is on the June GA agenda. Following this meeting Indigenous representatives will hold a zoom meeting to get the results of that Member States' meeting, as well as prepare a statement to be presented to the OAS GA.

The attendance at this year's PFII was significant, and perhaps the largest one in the last 23 years.

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