This conference is organised by the Indigenous Studies programme at the University of Helsinki with the participation of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), which was established in 2007 by the Human Rights Council, the UN’s main human rights body.
The EMRIP has drafted a Study on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with Respect to their Cultural Heritage. It reviews, among others, the international and national legal frameworks protecting indigenous peoples’ rights to cultural heritage, indigenous peoples’ participation in cultural heritage polices, participation of indigenous peoples themselves in decisions related to cultural heritage that affect them, indigenous peoples’ relations to World Heritage sites in different parts of the world.
This conference aims to provide participants with the newest research results and case studies related to indigenous peoples’ cultural heritage. It is also an opportunity to learn about the UNESCO’s new policy of engagement with indigenous peoples. In this process, indigenous peoples themselves raised several topics, such as the repatriation of cultural objects and human remains of indigenous people at national and international levels.
It is a part of Finland 100 years -programme.