Indigenous Leaders Discuss Health, Violence, and AI at UN Forum's 25th Session

Indigenous leaders confronted crises of territorial violence and digital extractivism at the United Nations this week. The 25th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues occurred with the theme 'Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ Health in the context of conflict'.

Grist reported that Indigenous land defenders are being killed and criminalized at alarming rates, while AI systems scrape traditional knowledge without consent, and Indigenous women face escalating rates of violence.

In 2023, 31 percent of human rights defenders killed worldwide were Indigenous or working on Indigenous rights, despite making up only five percent of the global population. Albert K. Barume, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, said in an introductory statement at Wednesday’s session: 'There is a crisis Indigenous people are currently experiencing, and it’s because many Indigenous peoples are killed, many are under arrest, many live in hiding.

' Grist reported that the forum provides a critical platform for communities to tackle systemic inequities together. Claire Charters, from Ngāti Whakaue and an expert in Indigenous global affairs, said: 'That is a very empowering thing. ' Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, who is Mbororo and the former chair of the forum, said in a statement in Wednesday’s session: 'The violence against Indigenous peoples happens so often.

' According to the Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel region in north-central Africa has seen the rapid expansion of militant jihadist groups focusing on the pastoral sector. ' In 2022, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called for urgent action in land rights cases for Western Shoshone, Native Hawaiian, Gwich’in, and Anishinaabe peoples. Albert K.

Barume wrote in an interim report to the General Assembly: 'Indigenous Peoples’ land rights are inherent and do not originate from State authority or recognition. ' A new study presented at the forum by Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim outlined impacts of the AI boom on the world’s estimated 476 to 500 million Indigenous people.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Hiku Media created te reo Māori speech recognition tools.

Ibrahim’s report recommends the adoption of the CARE Principles — Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics — for ethical management of AI technologies. The OCAP principles—Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession—were developed by the First Nations of Canada. As of 2025, Māori women make up 63 percent of the total female prison population in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Forty-nine percent of Māori women in Aotearoa New Zealand experience intimate partner violence and are three times more likely to experience it compared to non-Māori. Em-Hayley Kūkūtai Walker, who is Ngāti Tiipa and an artist, said in her statement on Wednesday: 'Hear the cry of my people.

' Grist reported that Indigenous leaders and advocates are calling for stronger protections, noting that the suppression of Indigenous voices undermines human rights and environmental efforts globally.

The report highlights successful frameworks where Indigenous communities implement digital sovereignty, such as building linguistic corpora under community control.