Ullukkut! Good afternoon.

I am delighted to join you at this gathering - to share some Pauktuutit ideas and experiences advocating for the children of the north – here in Canada and at the international level.

To begin, I will give you a brief introduction to Pauktuutit. Then I’ll tell you a little about some of the many issues that face today’s Inuit children and youth in Canada and across circumpolar nations and touch on some of the ways we’re responding to these challenges. Finally I’ll touch on one example of international networking, collaboration and advocacy for improving the lives of Inuit children.

First, what is Pauktuutit? In the early eighties, Inuit women from across the North gathered to consider how to address the deplorable social conditions facing their communities – a growing set of concerns that few others were interested in even discussing. In 1984, they succeeded in incorporating Pauktuutit, a new charitable organization representing Inuit women across Canada, to tackle on a national level, what were then known as ‘women’s issues’.

Gender equity, many forms of abuse, protection of cultural and traditional knowledge, the environment and economic development are among our priority issues. Other important areas of advocacy and program development include substance abuse, HIV/AIDS/Hep-C, diabetes, tobacco cessation, suicide prevention and respite for care-givers, to name just a few. But children and child-related concerns have always been our front and centre first commitment. SIDS, traditional midwifery, maternal and infant care and pre-natal programs, teen pregnancy, FASD, and child sexual assault are among our many child-related programs.

Led by a small, dedicated staff located in Ottawa, and directed by a highly motivated Board of Directors comprised of Inuit women elected from eight Inuit regions, Pauktuutit remains committed to advocating for social change that will improve life for Inuit women, their children and their communities. As heads of families and leaders of communities, as caregivers and health providers, Inuit women have great wisdom, traditional knowledge and expertise to share. Our core mandate is to foster awareness of the needs of Inuit women and to encourage their participation in community, regional and national concerns in relation to social, cultural, and economic development.

With these few minutes to speak, let me turn to a few background numbers that provide context for some of the many alarming circumstances that face Inuit children.

The majority of the 47,000 Inuit in Canada live in 52 remote Arctic communities extending from the Alaskan border to the eastern shores of Labrador. This vast cultural and geographical heritage will soon be in the hands of our precious youth. Between 1996 and 2001, Canadian Inuit experienced a population growth rate of 12 per cent – this is four times the rate of the non-Aboriginal population. Inuit now have an average age of just 20 years, compared to non-Aboriginal Canadians, who have an average age of 38 years.

So any discussion of the needs of Inuit children must begin with a focus on the needs of parents who, considering the median age of our population, are mostly very young, inexperienced mothers and fathers. It is imperative that the needs of young mothers in particular are addressed, in ways that build on their abilities to parent, as this directly impacts the lives of their children.

Historically, Inuit children being born to young mothers was a normal and acceptable practice in our culture. In the past, a young mother had a husband and a number of close relatives in the camp to guide and assist her. Gender roles were more clearly defined and formal schooling wasn’t an issue. Today, many of these young women do not have the assistance of a partner, and their extended families are either elsewhere, or stressed by their own inadequate social and economic conditions.

Young mothers clearly need extra support from community-based health and social networks. Young Inuit parents need help to develop positive parenting skills - programs that incorporate Inuit cultural and traditional knowledge. Those that exist are generally poorly and unreliably resourced.

We know that services to Inuit children and related supports to their parents are not even close to keeping up with the increasing numbers of a very young population. Evidence of this is all around us – and the situation is growing more complex and urgent in several interrelated areas. I’ll touch on a few:

Housing - there is an on-going and severely under-addressed crisis in social housing for Inuit, so growing numbers of Inuit children continue to be disadvantaged in ways that will impact them throughout their lives.

Early childhood programs – Pauktuutit is committed to initiatives that provide Inuit day care and Aboriginal Head Start programs. While these are successful in many communities, access is spotty and many Inuit children have yet to benefit. More subsidized day care spaces would help young mothers continue with their education. This in turn would be a first-rate investment in the future of our communities and our country, as the evidence is clear - educating young mothers increases healthy baby outcomes.

Abuse - Pauktuutit has been addressing family violence issues since its inception in 1984. Our success in partnering with governments to make prevention in this area a priority and to provide services to victims is increasing, but programs remain for the most part marginal. There are a few safe shelters helping to protect women and children scattered across the Inuit regions, however the root causes of violence remain largely unaddressed, mainly because resources to address them continue to be appallingly inadequate.

Most Inuit children witness violence in their homes, too many are victims of violence themselves, and everyone in this room is aware of the negative impact that violence has on children’s physical and emotional well-being, their ability to learn and their potential to grow into healthy, stable and productive adults. A significant financial investment in community-based programs and the human resources to carry them out is needed to help these children heal and to protect all from future abuse.

City children : The needs of Inuit children in urban areas are also of great concern. More than one in ten Inuit now live in the South. Canada’s urban Inuit population is expanding rapidly for a variety of reasons that include greater access to education for children and young adults, employment opportunities, and access to comprehensive medical care. And sadly, many Inuit women move south to escape family violence and abuse. There are services run by Inuit for Inuit in Ottawa, including much needed family and children’s services. While these Ottawa services are useful and increasing, other urban centres are at earlier stages of organizing and most are without such culturally relevant programs.

Another priority area of concern for Pauktuutit is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), now affecting two generations of Inuit and approaching epidemic levels. As we promote FASD awareness and prevention, the need for services for FASD affected children becomes ever more urgent. Currently, in many cases, these problems cannot even be diagnosed, due to the absence of professional help. Without diagnosis, there is inadequate data to justify to governments the urgent need for services. If these children are to reach their potential, adequate program delivery and training of caregivers remain major issues to be resolved.

Unparalleled rate of change : It would be difficult to overstate the effect on our children of the fact of our culture changing in less than fifty years from an isolated, family-based economy based on subsistence hunting and seasonal relocation, to population migration from small communities to regional centres and an economy of wage earning employment and living in permanent housing.

On all these matters – housing, social services, health issues, parenting and especially the impact on Inuit children of unparalleled social change, it has become obvious that if we are to truly assess the damage and implement many many more results-driven programs, financial and human resources must be increased. If we are to identify effective opportunities for beneficial legislative and public policy intervention we must get on the radar of the governments and policy-makers, the funders and advocates - raise awareness across the country of this little-known and no longer acceptable secret in the north.

One of the tools we need to use more to help us ‘get on the radar’, is solid scientific information – statistical confirmation to validate accounts of the critical circumstances facing Inuit and especially Inuit children. Careful, systematic research will establish baselines and demonstrate undeniably how recent radical changes in living conditions and lifestyle are affecting our children’s well-being and potential.

Which brings me to the Arctic Council. It was formed in 1996 to improve circumpolar cooperation to promote the economic, social and cultural well-being of Northern people. It is made up of eight Arctic states - Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Chukota-Russsia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Four of these - Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Chukota-Russsia - make up the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.

The Arctic Council has a broad mandate to draw attention to, advocate for and develop programs that address the concerns of Inuit and other citizens in the lands surrounding the North Pole. On the specific topic of this meeting, I’ll tell you a little about a recently approved initiative in one of the Council’s five areas of activities – sustainable development. It is a Canadian-led project titled “The Future of Children and Youth of the Arctic”, designed to address several key priorities, including psycho-social health and suicide prevention, alcohol, tobacco and other substances, maternal and child health, and respiratory and other infectious diseases. The project has three components: Health, Networking, and Internships.

The Health component has already begun it’s work, with an examination of existing information and studies in key areas related to the health of children and youth in the circumpolar region. Internships and networking programs will facilitate sharing of information, improving knowledge and understanding of sustainable development and offering experience in putting sustainable development into practice.

As the world becomes ever more interconnected, I am very hopeful that this and other partnerships will provide strong and effective advocacy for our children on the international stage.

In closing, I thank the National Children’s Alliance for affording me the opportunity to come and speak with you and I congratulate the coordinating committee of this Symposium for the very rich program you have put together. It represents a vigorous commitment to address the children’s issues that are becoming so urgent - especially in Canada’s north.

Quyanamiik, thank you.