Ulia Gosart, a visiting scholar with the UCLA American Indian Studies Center, provided a group of UCLA students with valuable firsthand knowledge of international human rights practices and indigenous politics last month, when she led a trip to the annual session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York. An advisory body to the UN’s Economic and Social Council, UNPFII provides advice and recommendations on indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, environment, education, health and human rights.
Gosart also organized a related seminar: "Resolving Conflict and Loss -- an Indigenous Path" highlighted case studies of structural violence against indigenous peoples from New Zealand, Samoa and annexed Ukrainian Crimea, and contributed to the work of the UNPFII forum by offering a critique of violence and a path toward healing.
The UCLA students took part in the first week of the forum’s two-week plenary sessions, as well as training sessions, a dialogue with Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues, and participation in the International Seminar on Indigenous Peoples' Rights at Columbia University. They also met with several indigenous politicians, including Valmaine Toki, UNPFII vice chair; Hai-Yuean Tualimaun, Indigenous Fellow of the World Intellectual Property Organization; and Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur in Cultural Rights.
Funding for the trip was provided by the American Indian Studies Center.
“Given the growing influence of global economic and political threats to the well-being of American Indian nations, it is crucial to expose students to mechanisms of indigenous politics,” said Gosart, who was born in the former Soviet Union and whose expertise on international policy development in protection of traditional knowledge rests upon her many years advocacy as a UN representative of a human rights organization from Russia. “Practical exposure to United Nations activities,” she added, “is by far best learning tool to inspire students to support their people by political engagement.”
Gosart earned a Ph.D. from UCLA in 2013. Her research focuses on the implications of indigenous advocacy on international policy making and on the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation.
