During the Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus held on Sunday, July 16, 2023, as a preamble to the session of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on Indigenous Peoples in Geneva—an intergovernmental mechanism where indigenous peoples are represented—Mr. Armenag Aprahamian, President of the National Council of Western Armenia, and Ms. Lydia Margossian made several interventions.

These speeches were part of the Expert Mechanism’s agenda, covering a range of issues, such as the impact of militarization on the rights of indigenous peoples, the global action plan for the decade of indigenous languages, and the strengthening of indigenous peoples’ participation in the United Nations.

Regarding the topic of indigenous languages, Mr. Armenag Aprahamian had this to say:

“Our language is Western Armenian. As such, we’d like to present our language and explain to member states and indigenous peoples how our language works. For example, we have translated the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Western Armenian. Could you kindly present it to the experts? We are eager to receive some answers on this matter.”