Ambassador Clément Chartier attends 52nd General Assembly of the Organization of American States

October 21, 2022

Ambassador Chartier of the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), the National Government of the Red River Métis and President of the American Council of Indigenous Peoples (ACIP) attended the OAS General Assembly held in Lima, Peru on October 5-7, 2022. The theme of this GA was "together against inequality and discrimination".

On behalf of the Indigenous Coalition composed of Indigenous organizations and governments from South, Central, and North America, Ambassador Chartier made the three-minute presentation allocated to participating delegations. In his presentation, Ambassador Chartier pointed out that Indigenous Nations and Peoples, as the Original Peoples of the Americas numbering in the millions, must be provided their own space within the OAS and not be placed in the category of Civil Society organizations.

In this context, Ambassador Chartier stated that having two three-minute allocations for Indigenous peoples in this GA was an egregious inequality and a manifestation of discrimination, while members of Civil Society from mainstream non-Indigenous society had 33 of 35 the allocated spaces from which to speak.

Ambassador Chartier called upon State governments and the OAS to make real space and participation for Indigenous peoples within the OAS system, including the Summit of the Americas. That this must be reflected by the OAS accommodating Indigenous peoples through their own space/sector in addition to the current four sectors established by the OAS: Civil Society, Business, Labour, and Youth.

He further called upon the OAS to undertake special initiatives to implement the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (ADRIP) and its Plan of Action aimed at its implementation.

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