Valmaine Toki

Valmaine Toki is a New Zealand barrister, solicitor, author, Māori rights advocate and academic. Toki is Professor of Law at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

In 2009, Toki drew attention to the historical and ongoing challenges of Māori representation in Auckland's governance, criticizing the government's rejection of the Royal Commission's recommendation for dedicated Māori seats on the Auckland Council.

In 2011, Toki became the first New Zealander and first Māori appointed by the President of the UN Economic and Social Council as an independent expert to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues where she served two terms of three years (2011–2017).

In 2019, Toki was elected to the Aotea/Great Barrier Island Local Board. In 2022 she was appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council to the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), as an independent expert, and the first New Zealander and Māori appointee. In July 2024, she was appointed chair of EMRIP. Provided by Wikipedia