The Yukon Advisory Committee is marking the release of the 2022 Progress Report on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan.

The report provides insights on the work done over the last year since the release of the National Action Plan.

It recognizes the urgent action that can be taken to better protect women, girls and Two-spirit+ people and support victims and survivors.

The report highlights a number of initiatives from the Yukon. Those include the recent amendments to the Child and Family Services Act, the establishment of the Yukon’s First Nation School board and the installation of the MMIWG2S+ monument in Rotary Peace Park.

The document also highlights how national efforts align with the 10 priorities that the Yukon Advisory Committee released at the first MMIWG2S+ Accountability Forum held May 18-19.

These 10 priorities represent critical and timely items from the territory’s MMIWG2S+ Strategy that partners must begin immediately, the Yukon committee said. They are:

1.1 Commemoration of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-spirit+ people, including restoring graves, fencing and markers.

1.5 Increase community and land-based infrastructure and programming, including after-care and development of camps and facilities.

1.8 Explore options to consider the application of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of the Yukon’s modern treaties and evolving relationship with First Nations governments without agreements.

2.1 Complete community safety assessments, plans and implementation.

2.5 Improve victim-centred and crisis-responsive supports for victims of gender-based violence and sexualized assault.

3.4 Eliminate violence related to development projects and improve the positive benefits of resource extraction and major infrastructure projects for Indigenous women and Yukon communities.

3.6 Appropriately and safely meet the needs of Indigenous women, girls and Two-spirit+ people for safe housing and freedom from poverty.

4.5 Provide adequate, long-term funding for Indigenous women’s organizations that is informed by a co-developed funding assessment process.

4.6 Embed an accountability framework into the Yukon’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-spirit+ People Strategy.

4.8 Establish a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-spirit+ People trust fund for families and survivors.

“As work continues in the Yukon and across Canada to address violence against Indigenous women, the Yukon Advisory Committee is committed to ensuring the National Action Plan is a living document that evolves to reflect community needs and priorities,” the committee said in a statement released last Friday.

“The committee also recognizes the valuable expertise and experience of family members of MMIWG2S+, and acknowledges their strength and resilience.”

Jeanie McLean, the minister responsible for the Women and Gender Equity Directorate, thanked all the contributors “for their work on developing and implementing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan.

“The 2022 Progress Report highlights the work that has been done over the past year and shows that the Yukon is aligned with national efforts to address MMIWG2S+,” McLean said.

“I look forward to continuing to take the critical steps needed to protect Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit+ people while supporting families and survivors.”

Chief Doris Bill of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation said she is “happy to see, both locally and nationally, that progress is underway to create safety for Indigenous women, girls, and Two-spirit+ people.

“Shä̀w níthän to everyone who has worked hard to bring us to where we are today in this process. I look forward to taking the next steps alongside our local and national partners,” Bill added.

It’s only by working together, said Ann Maje Raider, of the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society, “that we can take the action that is needed to end violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals.

“It has been an honour to be part of the National Family and Survivors Circle, ensuring that the voice of Yukon families remains at the heart of the National Action Plan.”

On June 3, 2021, a National Action Plan was released as a response to the Calls for Justice.

The plan, which was co-developed, provides an overarching plan which identifies the necessary activities that must be taken by all levels of government, organizations, and communities across the country to address violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, wherever they live.

The Yukon’s MMIWG2S+ Strategy outlines 31 items under four main paths to guide action in response to the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. They are:

• Strengthening Connections and Supports;

• Community Safety and Justice;

• Economic Independence and Education; and

• Community Action and Accountability.