The event was moderated by Prof. Costas M. Constantinou, with opening remarks from UNPO Vice-President, Ms. Elisenda Paluzie. The speakers highlighted the vital, but often overlooked, role that minorities and unrepresented peoples often play in peacebuilding and mediation, serving as bridges, warning signals, and creative negotiators where more dominant actors cannot. Despite this, they are frequently mischaracterised as sources of instability, and their aspirations for self-determination are often wrongly framed as conflictual. By promoting the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Peoples (UDRP), UNPO provides a normative framework that transforms self-determination claims into constructive dialogue, expanding the moral, social, and political horizons of diplomacy and advancing justice-centered, lasting peace.
Following this, Dr. Alex Manby highlighted an initiative at the heart of UNPO’s strategy: the UDRP. Developed by UNPO members over nearly a decade and ratified in 2001, the Declaration emerged from the organisation’s founding vision of supporting marginalised communities in pursuing non-violent, self-determined futures. Unlike traditional international legal instruments, the UDRP places peoples, not states, at the center of rights, affirming their ongoing right to self-determination, cultural preservation, ecological security, and democratic representation. More than twenty years later, it remains a forward-looking framework, offering unrepresented communities a principled, peaceful roadmap for asserting their rights and shaping inclusive, democratic, and diverse societies.
Representative Thinley Chukki of the Office of Tibet in Geneva reflected on Tibet’s role as a founding member of of the UNPO, stressing that despite decades of clear UN resolutions affirming Tibetans’ fundamental rights and their right to self-determination, the human rights situation in Tibet remains dire. Cultural repression, residential schooling of Tibetan children, and interference in religious traditions posing an existential threat to Tibetan civilisation.
Biram Dah Abeid, President of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist (IRA) Movement and representative of the Haratin community, cautioned the international community about Mauritania’s continued suppression of anti-racism and anti-slavery activism, citing the state’s tactics of propaganda, criminalisation, and political exclusion. He characterised these escalating violations as clear evidence of the government’s systematic denial of equality and basic rights. Despite this, he reiterated the Haratin’s commitment to a long-standing, peaceful struggle in alignment with UN human rights standards.
Ms. Ariadne Heinz, representing the Catalan people, emphasised the importance of centering the rights of peoples in peacebuilding and transitional justice. Drawing on Catalonia’s centuries-long struggle for cultural preservation and self-government, she highlighted how unresolved historical injustices, from the Franco dictatorship to the repeated denial of political autonomy, continue to shape democratic crises today, and argued that genuine peace requires dialogue, recognition of collective rights, and respect for peoples’ identities.
Finally, Dr. Mary Kate Soliva, speaking as a representative of Guam, underscored that the island’s history of colonisation, ongoing political disenfranchisement, and economic dependency demonstrates that meaningful peacebuilding and justice require genuine representation and the recognition of the Chamorro people’s right to self-determination. Speaking from her experience as an American woman with Chamorro ancestry, she affirmed that “Guam reminds us that no community is too small to matter, and no people are too distant to deserve representation”.
The discussions at the event made it clear that centering the rights of peoples is not only a matter of historical justice but a prerequisite for sustainable peace. By recognising and empowering unrepresented communities, promoting non-violent advocacy, and fostering inclusive dialogue, UNPO and its members are advancing a vision of international solidarity and cooperation where self-determination, cultural preservation, and democratic participation are the foundation of a more just, sustainable and peaceful future.
