International Women’s Day – Accelerating Action for Indigenous Women’s Safety and Leadership at United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

International Women’s Day – Accelerating Action for Indigenous Women’s Safety and Leadership at United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

New York, NY – As part of our efforts to celebrate International Women’s Day, the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) is attending the 69^th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW69) from March 10-14 in New York.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is “Accelerate Action.” ONWA shares this goal and is bringing Indigenous women’s voices to the UNCSW69 to do just that.

This year, the UNCSW69 session will focus on a review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which was developed in 1995 at the 4th World Conference on Women and is considered the global bill of rights for women’s equality. The UNCSW69 session serves as a check-in for UN Member States on the action they’ve taken over to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls worldwide.

What is missing from the UNCSW69 session is a specific recognition of Indigenous women and girls’ experiences and rights. The UNCSW session is silent, for example, on the Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women – a call to action drafted by the over 150 Indigenous women who also attended the 4^th World Conference on Women in 1995.

Today, 30 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted, and the Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women was drafted, Indigenous women are still not safe, and our inherent rights continue to be violated. This is despite the tireless grassroots efforts and advocacy from Indigenous women and our organizations. Accelerated action is needed now to drive change today for this generation and for our granddaughter’s granddaughters.

“Indigenous women have always been the medicine needed to heal ourselves, our families, and our communities from persistent colonization. We honour the voices of Indigenous women leaders, including those that led the development of the Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women nearly 30 years ago. We need action now—we cannot continue to wait for our safety to be ensured and our inherent leadership to be upheld. ” – Ingrid Green, ONWA Interim Chief Executive Officer

If we are to achieve sustainable change to ensure Indigenous women’s safety and uphold our inherent leadership rights, we must deconstruct the current systems that perpetuate violence and discrimination against Indigenous women to reconstruct our leadership, voices, honour, and empowerment.

Follow ONWA at UNCSW69: https://www.onwa.ca/post/onwa-at-uncsw69

For those attending UNCSW69, join as we co-host a Parallel Event on Indigenous women’s leadership and solidarity with our sisters from the Māori Women’s Welfare League (Aotearoa/New Zealand), and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Women’s Association (Australia) on Tuesday, March 10 at 10:30AM at the Church Centre at 777 UN Plaza on the 2^nd floor.

For more information and media inquiries, contact:
Andre Morriseau, Communications Manager
Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA)
Email: amorriseau@onwa.ca

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