Event Details July 16, 2025 13:00 Geneva (Timezone) Background Since 2000, the Human Rights Training Program for Indigenous Peoples (PFDHPI), promoted by the Pedro Arrupe Human Rights Institute of the University of Deusto, in collaboration with the Basque Agency for Cooperation and Solidarity (eLankidetza) and various organizations of the Basque cooperation system, has been a pioneering and intercultural space for training, critical analysis and capacity building aimed at indigenous leaders in Latin America. Throughout these 25 years, the program has trained more than 150 defenders of collective rights from 19 countries in the region, favoring the strengthening of community leadership, the articulation of spaces for the defense of rights and the promotion of political advocacy strategies at local, regional and international levels. The program is part of the Indigenous Fellowship Programme (IFP) of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and constitutes its Spanish-speaking component in Latin America, in coordination with the other linguistic groups. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the book Los derechos de los pueblos indígenas: Luchas por la descolonización (Martínez de Bringas, A., 2024) has been published, which proposes a critical and situated reflection on the contemporary challenges of indigenous peoples, the disputes surrounding self-determination, territory and human rights. This side event at the 18th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) provides a unique opportunity to share accumulated learning, make the program’s trajectory visible and reflect collectively on the future of human rights training from the perspective of indigenous peoples. In a context marked by the deepening of struggles for self-determination and the effective implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the meeting seeks to contribute to the strengthening of indigenous capacities for the full exercise of their collective rights. Organizers ● Pedro Arrupe Institute of Human Rights – University of Deusto ● Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) ● International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) The event will be in Spanish and no interpretation will be provided. Objective The specific objectives of the event are (a) To present the 25-year trajectory of the Human Rights Training Program for Indigenous Peoples (PFDHPI) and to hold the public launch of the commemorative publication The Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Struggles for Decolonization. b) To reflect on the impact of human rights training programs on the strengthening of the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as on their processes of self-determination and territorial defense. c) To discuss the current challenges and future horizons of human rights education and its contribution to the effective implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Panelists ● A PFDHPI graduate who will share his or her personal and political experience (to be confirmed). ● A representative from the Pedro Arrupe Human Rights Institute (Asier Martinez de Bringas) ● A representative from IPRI or IWGIA (tbc) The panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session. Moderation The event will be moderated by a representative of the convening organizations.
