EMRIP holds a vital role in the global landscape, providing expert advice to the Human Rights Council on Indigenous Peoples' rights. Moreover, it plays a key role in supporting Member States in upholding the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Here are a few words from Lesle herself: “Indigenous Peoples are deprived of the fundamental rights to practice their traditional occupations and pursue sustainable use of their resources. This undermines not only their right to food, but also their collective rights to self-determination, to lands, territories, and resources, and to culture, knowledge, and identity, among others.”