Aqqaluk Lynge was the President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (formerly the Inuit Circumpolar Conference) from 1995 to 2002. He is a former member of the Parliament of Greenland and one of the founders of the Greenlandic political party Inuit Ataqatigiit. An indigenous Kalaallit, Lynge is a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is an advisory body to the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council. The Forum examines indigenous issues such as economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.