The Faculty of Law’s International Human Rights Program (IHRP) and the Aboriginal Law Program (ALP) are pleased to announce a unique new partnership with James Anaya, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The partnership offers a summer internship to one Faculty of Law student with the Special Rapporteur, and a possible field mission related to his mandate. This internship will be open to 1L and 2L JD students, with preference given to a student of Aboriginal descent. This exciting new partnership further expands the Faculty’s exceptional experiential learning opportunities, while advancing the field of international Indigenous rights.
In 2008, the UN Human Rights Council appointed Professor Anaya to the mandate of Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Anaya’s mandate is to "examine ways and means of overcoming existing obstacles to the full and effective protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people...". To this end, he has produced reports on countries as diverse as Canada, New Zealand, Botwana, Congo, and Colombia. More information on Anaya’s mandate and work missions can be found here.
The IHRP has been facilitating summer internships for over 25 years and has to date placed over 300 students at human rights organizations around the world. This past summer, students interned at diverse organizations including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (Uganda), International Criminal Court (Office of the Prosecutor), Open Society Foundation (New York), as well as a host of civil society organizations in Canada, China, Kenya, Timor Leste, and Peru.
The ALP builds on the Faculty’s strong tradition of working to enhance the Aboriginal voice in our community and within the legal profession more broadly, and offers a wide variety of classroom and experiential learning opportunities to students who are interested in Aboriginal issues.
