UKHRUL: Gam Awungshi Shimray was appointed as Asia’s Representative to the United Nations’ Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) for the 2026–2029 term on Wednesday.
Shimray was serving his second term as Secretary General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), an organization accredited by the United Nations’ ECOSOC. He began working on indigenous peoples’ issues in 1993 and became the Convener of the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) in 1998.
From 2000 to 2004, he was one of the expert members of the Technical and Policy Core Group (TPCG) of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) under the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India. Shimray also held the position of National Coordinator of the All India Coordinating Forum of the Adivasi/Indigenous Peoples in India from 1999 to 2005.
Established in 2007 by the Human Rights Council, EMRIP provides the Council with expertise and advice on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It conducts studies to promote and protect indigenous peoples’ rights by clarifying the implications of key principles such as self-determination and free, prior, and informed consent while examining good practices and challenges across a broad range of areas, and suggesting measures that states and other stakeholders can adopt at the level of laws, policies, and programmes.
Currently balancing his responsibilities as the headman of Chingjaroi CV, a position to which he was appointed this year, Shimray views these roles as complementary. “Though they are two different entities with different levels of responsibility, the vision for both is the same—to secure democracy for our people,” he explained.
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With over 30 years of experience as an activist promoting human rights and safeguarding democracy, Shimray continues to be an exemplary figure of leadership for the Nagas.