Under the leadership of Professor Pascale Fournier, Founding Director of the Observatory, the delegation comprises students, graduates, researchers, and partners from the Observatory's leadership program. Conducted with Mélanie Vincent, founder and CEO of KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples and a Collaborator of the Observatory, the mission is part of a broader Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded initiative seeking to advance dialogue on Indigenous rights, identity, belonging, and legal recognition while giving students direct engagement with international institutions.
Among the members of the delegation are Civil Law Section students and recent graduates Océane Chabanol, Harleen Kaur Jawanda, Laurence Laperriere, Mateo Alejandro Porras Gil and Haylee Reid, who will participate in the mission’s research, discussions, and international engagements.
A central component of the mission is Who Gets to Belong?, a documentary produced by KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples with the active participation of the Observatory’s Leaders. This film examines Indigenous women’s experiences of gender-based discrimination under Canada’s Indian Act and analyzes the effects of status transmission on identity and community across generations. It includes testimonies of several indigenous women, including the Observatory’s Pilots Jeannette Corbiere Lavell and Dawn Memee Lavell-Harvard.
This project takes place at a moment when questions of recognition, equality, and belonging continue to shape discussions on Indigenous rights in Canada and internationally. Despite decades of legislative reforms, important questions remain regarding legal recognition, community membership, and the long-term effects of gender discrimination under the Indian Act. These issues also connect to broader international discussions shaped by Indigenous advocacy and engagement with United Nations bodies and instruments, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
The Geneva-Cambridge mission is founded on the principle that community experiences can inform broader conversations on rights and self-determination. Through screenings, exchanges, and discussions, the delegation will examine how Indigenous knowledge contributes to global conversations on rights and self-determination, and how international frameworks can support justice and belonging.
One of the distinctive features of the Observatory's leadership program is its network of Pilots and Collaborators, who contribute throughout the year through mentorship, dialogue, research, and experiential learning opportunities. The Geneva-Cambridge mission builds on these ongoing relationships, bringing students into direct engagement with Indigenous leaders, academics, diplomats, and United Nations practitioners who help shape the Observatory's work and support the development of the next generation of human rights leaders.
Throughout the mission, the documentary produced by KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples will function as the catalyst for a series of interconnected discussions.
In Geneva, discussions with the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations will address international human rights commitments, Indigenous women’s advocacy, and legal reform in Canada. These conversations will analyze how international recommendations have influenced accountability and legislative change.
The delegation will participate in activities associated with the United Nations Human Rights Office’s Faith for Rights initiative, focusing on identity, belonging, spirituality, and cultural continuity. Through the leadership and support of Dr. Michael Wiener, Coordinator of the Faith for Rights initiative, and Dr. Ibrahim Salama, Associate Director of the Observatory and a longstanding leader in the development of the Faith for Rights framework, students will engage with an international network working to advance human dignity, coexistence, and mutual understanding. Participants will examine the effects of separation from community, culture, land, and tradition, and consider how Indigenous women and communities maintain these connections across generations.
At the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, hosted by Dr. Markus Gehring, a Pilot of the Observatory, participants will address Indigenous rights, legal pluralism, and the transformation of domestic discrimination into an international human rights concern. The group will analyze Indigenous women’s engagement with judicial and international mechanisms, and trace the evolution of discourse from discrimination to broader considerations of identity, belonging, participation, and self-determination. The public is warmly invited to join virtually.
The Geneva portion of the mission will also include Yann Toma, artist, researcher, UNESCO Chairholder, and Collaborator of the Observatory. In addition to leading a dedicated Lunch and Learn session with students, Toma will accompany key discussions throughout the mission and translate them into artistic works inspired by the exchanges in Geneva. His involvement reflects the Observatory’s growing international collaborations, including an emerging partnership between KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples, La Sorbonne, and the Observatory that seeks to explore new connections between Indigenous knowledge, law, and the arts.
Additional meetings with diplomatic missions, including those from Nordic countries, hosted by the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations, will provide context for Canada’s experience within broader international discussions on Indigenous self-determination and human rights. These exchanges will also highlight the Observatory’s collaborative model, involving students, Indigenous partners, and international institutions.
The mission exemplifies the Observatory’s approach to leadership development. Most delegates are current or recent students who contribute to dialogues that integrate research, lived experience, policy, and human rights practice through direct engagement with diplomats, academics, Indigenous leaders, and United Nations representatives.
Senator Michèle Audette, a prominent Indigenous leader and Pilot of the Observatory, will join Professor Fournier and Collaborator Mélanie Vincent, who will moderate the discussion, for an official side event selected by the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) at the United Nations. The event, “Who Gets to Belong? Indigenous Women, Legal Recognition, and Self-Determination under Canada's Indian Act”, was selected as an official side event during EMRIP's annual session, providing an opportunity to bring the Observatory's work and longstanding collaboration with Indigenous partners to an international audience of Indigenous leaders, experts, diplomats, and United Nations representatives. The discussion will explore the intersections of identity, belonging, legal recognition, and self-determination through the experiences of Indigenous women affected by Canada's Indian Act.
Through the integration of research, documentary film, Indigenous partnerships, and international engagement, the Geneva-Cambridge mission shows how universities can contribute to contemporary human rights discussions while connecting scholarship, community engagement, and public dialogue. The mission also reflects the Observatory's growing role as a convening platform that brings together students, researchers, Indigenous leaders, diplomats, international institutions, and community partners to contribute to human rights discussions at local, national, and international levels.
The Civil Law Section extends its best wishes to the delegation for a productive and enriching experience.