Greenlandic researcher participates in UN seminar

Hans Peder Kirkegaard, PhD student in security policy at Ilisimatusarfik, participated in a seminar on the rights of indigenous peoples in conflict and post-conflict situations, invited by the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The seminar took place 3 - 5 December in Geneva, Switzerland.

The seminar focused on conflict and post-conflict situations, where conflict is understood as armed conflict, war, land dispossession, forced displacement, colonialism, resource extraction, oppression, and climate change. Post-conflict is understood as: the work of recovery after such conflicts, such as apologies, compensation, prosecution, peace processes, and justice.

Hans Peder Kirkegaard shared some of his security policy research, presenting, among other things, the methods used by hostile nations in influence campaigns. He mentioned that it is important for secret information from intelligence services to be shared with indigenous peoples.

Free, prior, and informed consent cannot be achieved if confidential information is not shared. Influence campaigns can be counteracted by working with reliable, credible, and accurate information.

"Indigenous peoples face such challenges in today's world that they are being deprived of their land in the fight against climate change and the pursuit of resources. More and more decisions are being made that violate the rights of indigenous peoples due to wars and competition between states", Hans Peder Kirkegaard says - and continues "These situations can be exploited by hostile states to create division and undermine the rights of indigenous peoples through influence campaigns".

The seminar is part of the study of indigenous peoples' rights in conflict and post-conflict situations. The expert mechanism for indigenous peoples was created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2007.

Contributions to the study of indigenous peoples' rights in conflict and post-conflict situations can be made until 31 January 2026 here.