Australia Endorses the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples

On behalf of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, I salute Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, for leading his government to their endorsement of the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples last week. With this move by Australia, there are just three countries left who voted against the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2007, a move that followed more than two decades of debate, negotiations and agreement. As an Inuk and a Canadian, I am ashamed that Canada is one of those three dissenting countries. The Declaration is a non-binding text that sets out: “The individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues.” The Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions and to pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations. It also prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them, and their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social development. “The rights recognized in the Declaration constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world,” according to a statement issued by James Anaya, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people; John Henriksen, the Chairperson-Rapportueur of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and Victoria Tauli-Corupz, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. It bewilders me that after so much thoughtful and educated consideration having been dedicated to these issues over a 20 year period, our Canadian government does not see what an esteemed body such as the United Nations does, with its eye on history and the well being of the global population – that the world’s Indigenous peoples have for the most part been marginalized over history, resulting in socio-economic and health conditions that continue to do damage to these populations. I sincerely hope that Canada becomes the next nation, and certainly not the last, to see the light, and right, of this United Nations Declaration.