Two Indigenous Nova Scotian Human Rights Commissioners to Attend United Nations Meeting

Two commissioners with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Chief Andrea Paul and Cheryl Knockwood, will attend a United Nations meeting on the rights of Indigenous peoples in Geneva, Switzerland, from July 10-14.

“We want to publicly recognize the contribution that these two Indigenous women from Nova Scotia will make on the world stage,” said Christine Hanson, director and CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. “They will no doubt be instrumental in helping to bring attention to Indigenous rights not only in Nova Scotia, but throughout Canada.”

Organized by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the session, titled the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, is held annually to discuss how the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples can improve indigenous peoples’ lives. The year 2017 is the 10th anniversary of the declaration. 

Andrea Paul is the chief of Pictou Landing First Nation. She was first appointed to the commission in 2013 and was reappointed in 2016. She taught Mi’kmaw in the local community school and, prior to that, she was a student counselor and worked with both youth and adults in her community. 

Cheryl Knockwood was appointed to the commission in 2015. She is a lawyer and currently works for the Membertou First Nation as its governance coordinator. She has also taught aboriginal and treaty rights at Cape Breton University. 

For more information on the 10th session, please visit:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Pages/Session10.aspx.