The Special Rapportuer gave the keynote speech at the opening of the eighteenth session of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and Folkore, on May 9 in Geneva. In his speech he stressed that indigenous peoples’ demands to maintain control over their traditional knowledge and cultural expressions are grounded in widely applicable principles of fundamental human rights. The WIPO committee is currently drafting text for international legal instruments on traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and traditional cultural expressions.
See the summary of the Special Rapporteurs keynote speech. Information on the work of the committee can be found here.