INDIGENOUS YOUTH VOICES ON UNDRIP IMPLEMENTATION 183

In the fall of 2022, CRE began conversations with Indigenous youth across Canada to find out their biggest priorities when it comes to how to implement UNDRIP. In total, we spoke to 183 Indigenous youth through sharing circles, a policy hackathon, an online survey, and at an in-person forum in Iqaluit, which was hosted in partnership with Ivviulutit.

In total, they made 51 recommendations covering everything from ending anti-Indigenous racism, immediate reforms that are needed, how UNDRIP can support community sovereignty, and how to measure UNDRIP’s success and keep the government accountable to its principles. You can read all 51 recommendations in the full report, but we identified these three umbrella recommendations that contain many of the more specific recommendations made by the youth:

Establish regionally-specific funding pots for Indigenous-led initiatives that address food insecurity, housing precarity, and access to all forms of healthcare.

Develop a national strategy for Indigenous-specific anti-racism education (including sector specific training requirements, and ensuring Indigenous rights, histories, and realities are incorporated into secondary and post-secondary education curricula)

Report back often, in accessible formats, and continue to dialogue with youth through engagement (this includes reporting on at least a quarterly basis, with smaller milestones reported as they develop, as well as cultivating an online presence so that youth have easy access to updates)