A/76/202
Centres provides culturally relevant programmes and services to approximately
1.4 million First Nations (status and non-status), Inuit and Métis peoples living in
urban environments. Services relate to health, housing, education, recreation, language,
justice, employment, economic development, culture and community wellness. 98 The
Assembly of First Nations is a national advocacy organization representing more than
900,000 people living in 634 First Nation communities and in cities and towns
nationwide. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami represents the voice of Inuit peoples by assisting
with legal action and improving education for Inuit children. 99 The Native Women’s
Association of Canada is the political voice of indigenous women, girls and genderdiverse people.
63. In Latin America, the Kayambi People’s Confederation, in collaboration with
the municipality of Cayambe, Ecuador, delivers programmes for young children by
sending community educators on home visits, providing food for infants and
promoting family farms in urban areas. 100 In Peru, an indigenous organization,
Consejo Shipibo Koibo Xetebo, broadcasts culturally appropriate radio and television
programmes in Shipibo. 101 In Guatemala, the Grandmother Midwives of Nim Alaxik
is a national movement that promotes the recognition and appreciation of ancestral
knowledge in the national health-care system. 102
64. In the United States, indigenous organizations that support urban indigenous
peoples include the National Urban Indian Family Coalition, the American Indian
Opportunities Industrialization Center, the National Council of Urban Indian Health
and the National Congress of American Indians. In addition, specific projects initiated
by indigenous communities include housing development. For example, the Little
Earth of United Tribes created the “first urban housing complex with Native
preference, [which] serves as a national model, at the forefront of American Indian
migration into urban areas”. 103 The organization provides a range of programming,
including urban farming education and healthy cooking classes, entrepreneurship
training and education services. The Siletz secured an “Indian Housing Block Grant
to build housing and in addition, counselling and other social services are provided
to tenants”. 104
65. In Australia, indigenous organizations include the Close the Gap Coalition, a
grouping of more than 50 indigenous and non-indigenous health and community
organizations; the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Isl ander Legal Services,
which provides legal aid nationwide; and Australians for Native Title and
Reconciliation, a national advocacy organization dedicated specifically to the rights
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The National Family Violence Pr evention
and Legal Services Forum comprises 14 organizations that provide holistic, specialist
and culturally safe legal and non-legal support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
women.
66. In South Africa, indigenous urban Khoikhoi young people have resorted to the
supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Nagoya
Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of
Benefits Arising from their Utilization) to stake a traditional knowledge claim to thei r
__________________
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
21-10081
Submission by the National Association of Friendship Centres.
See www.newswire.ca/news-releases/inuit-tapiriit-kanatami-and-the-government-of-canadarenew-commitment-to-tuberculosis-elimination-882167177.html.
Submission by the UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office, UNICEF country
offices in Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil and Guyana and UNICEF New Zealand.
Ibid.
Submission by the Grandmother Midwives of Nim Alaxik.
See https://littleearth.org/about.
See http://aioic.org/about; www.ncuih.org; www.ncai.org; and www.opb.org/news/article/
portland-oregon-affordable-housing-native-americans-confederated-tribes-siletz.
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