Image
Image Caption
Summary
The Local Journalism Initiative
Families and survivors of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse individuals will be an integral part of the development of a national action plan when the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations hosts its upcoming engagement sessions.
In 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its final report, which outlined 231 Calls for Justice. The federal government was called on to develop a national action plan with input from Indigenous peoples to implement those Calls for Justice.
“Over the decades there have been many recommendations about how we can move forward on ending (this) tragedy,” said BCAFN Regional Chief Terry Teegee. “The purpose of these sessions is to gather and have a strategic, regionally-based dialogue that is action and implementation focused.”
This engagement will provide valuable insight, says Louisa Housty-Jones, BCAFN Women’s Representative.
“I hope these sessions and the report that flows from them can add to the momentum around the Calls for Justice and support immediate concrete action. There can be no more delay,” said Housty-Jones.
The sessions, to be held in May and June, will be co-facilitated by Chastity Davis-Alphonse and Racelle Kooy, who have been instrumental in informing the design of an inclusive, trauma-informed and culturally-relevant process.
To this end, family members and survivors have been included in prioritizing and guiding how the Calls for Justice are implemented within the BC region. The engagement processes promise to:
- uphold the key principles of families- and survivors-centered approaches;
- respect the history of activism and work completed to date on MMIWG2S+;
- integrate culturally-relevant and trauma-informed principles;
- adjust engagement to the extraordinary circumstances of the global COVID-19 pandemic;
- and be action- and implementation-focused
Davis-Alphonse and Kooy have extensive experience in community engagement and are advocates for the safety, health and wellness of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals.
Two pre-engagement update sessions will be held first to provide the federal government and the Assembly of First Nations with the opportunity to share what has taken place from June 2019 to May 2021 with the final report. Next steps and how the regional engagement processes will inform the national action plan will also be discussed. These pre-engagement sessions, to be held May 12 and May 13, will also provide family members and survivors with the opportunity to re-connect with the process, ask questions, and be included in the next steps for the process.
The engagement sessions for families and survivors will take place May 14 to May 18, May 24, May 28 and June 1. The variety of days and times were chosen to best accommodate the needs of survivors and families. One of the engagement sessions will be specific to 2SLGBTTQQIA+.
Each engagement session will provide support from one Elder to open and close the session in a cultural and good way; two MMWIG2S+ regional coordinators from the First Nations Health Authority/Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement; a graphic facilitator to capture the conversation visually; and a note taker to record the discussion.
The sessions will be followed with a “what we heard” report from Davis-Alphonse and Kooy in early June outlining the priorities, actions, and a path forward for the implementation of the Calls for Justice to be implemented in BC and to inform the national action plan. There will be two follow up sessions to report back to family members, survivors, and First Nations organizations, leaders, activists, advocates, and subject-matter experts on June 18 and June 19.
The report will then be submitted to AFN to inform the federal government’s national action plan from a BC perspective and will inform BCAFN’s advocacy regarding the implementation of the national action plan. The goal is that the report will also support community-based action across BC.
To learn more visit: https://events.bcafn.ca/regionalengagementdevelopnationalactionplanmmiwg2s/