The rights of Indigenous children
The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health is pleased to announce its support for a new initiative focusing on the rights of Indigenous children. The Global Child Initiative focuses on the development of indicators to help governments monitor and report on the rights of children around the world, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. The NCCIH will establish an advisory committee of Indigenous knowledge-holders, scholars, and decision-makers to oversee the development and implementation of monitoring tools, ensuring cultural safety and appropriateness for Indigenous children.
The Global Child Initiative aims to help Canada and other signatory governments to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child identify and correct weaknesses and deficits in government services that impact children. In Canada, persistent health inequities continue to be experienced by Indigenous children, highlighting the need for a monitoring tool that can identify gaps and inform improved allocation of resources and development of programs and services.
Building on the concept of engagement in order to account for the voices of those who are most directly impacted, the NCCIH will partner with the Global Child team to help build collaborative relationships with Indigenous peoples from the start of the project. Dr. Margo Greenwood, Academic Lead of the NCCIH, will head an Indigenous advisory committee to review and adapt the Global Child indicators for Indigenous children. The work of the advisory committee will be informed by Dr. Greenwood’s contribution to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Comment 11; Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention.
The involvement of the NCCIH and Dr. Greenwood will help ensure respectful, nation-to-nation dialogue and relationship-building in the creation and piloting of the Global Child indicators, and in their refinement and adaptation to the unique circumstances and experiences of Indigenous children in Canada and globally. In holding governments accountable to their commitments to guarantee the rights of children, including minority and Indigenous children, the Global Child Initiative represents an important opportunity to address enduring, deeply systemic health inequities and ensure the best possible lifelong chances for every Indigenous child and family.