Thursday, December 13

Meitei Umakanta Leitanthem
The Role and Impact of the UN and Civil Society Organizations in Advancing the Rights of Indigenous Populations.
Levermore Lounge, Science Building Room 108
3:00 PM

About the Speaker
Meitei Umakanta Leitanthem is the Vice-President for the Threatened Indigenous Peoples' Societies (TIPS) in Manipur and the Spokesperson for Apunba Lup, a Coalition of 34 Civil Society Organizations from India. At the local level, he works to achieve two basic needs of the Manipur population: promoting awareness about political and social rights, and designing strategies for sustainable development.

As a Legal Associate Consultant for the All Manipur Bar Association, he has fought against the discriminate treatment of the members of his community. At the international level, Meitei has tried to promote the cause of indigenous people worldwide by presenting papers on indigenous peoples' development, the Millennium Development Goals, education and human rights abuses at the United Nations, the Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues and at different universities. He drafted regional caucus interventions at the UN Forum and authored the book "Human Rights Review 2002". Meitei is currently an international guest of the International Center for Tolerance Education, An Initiative of the Third Millennium Foundation.

Download the flyer (PDF 140KB)