The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA), and the Canadian Journal of Women in Law (CJWL) will host a symposium on murders and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) and the forthcoming national inquiry on January 30 and 31, 2016 at the University of Ottawa.
This symposium will provide an opportunity for Indigenous women, international human rights experts and allies to strategize on how to move forward now that the Government of Canada has officially confirmed that it will establish a national inquiry. Dialogue will centre on designing an inclusive, productive framework for the inquiry, and on developing a co-ordinated action plan to end violence against Indigenous women.
The symposium will host experts from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and three United Nations Special Rapporteurs ― making this an unprecedented meeting on Canada’s human rights crisis and on the rights of Indigenous women and girls.