Prof Megan Davis attends pre-sessional meeting for the UNPFII in Republic of Congo

Prof Megan Davis is an expert member of the UNPFII. Each year the UNPFII has a pre-sessional meeting to prepare for the main meeting in May/June. Each year a different UN member state hosts the UNPFII.  During the current Form, pre-sessional meetings have been held in Ottawa, Canada and Nicaragua.  This year the UNPFII was hosted by the Republic of Congo. The Republic of Congo is one of the first UN member states to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into domestic legislation.  Part of the trip was to understand how the legislation was negotiated and enacted and provide input into the 5 year implementation plan with UN Congo. Prof Davis attended the pre-sessional with her colleagues in the capital Brazzaville where they met with Indigenous peoples of the Congo (who had travelled up to 3 days to meet the UNPFII), Parliamentarians, UN Congo and Soyata Maigi (Mali) from the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights to discuss the unique challenges facing Indigenous peoples in the Congo, particularly given the remoteness and the forests.