Indigenous women to brief mining and government officials on mining impacts
(Vancouver, BC) – Indigenous women from Canada, Ecuador and the Philippines will join political, mining, Indigenous and civil society representatives at the Vancouver Public Library on October 13 for the Gendered Impacts Symposium. They will meet to discuss the impacts of mining on Indigenous women, and to propose joint strategies and actions to mitigate these impacts.
“Indigenous women offer perspectives on resource extraction that are often not heard or understood when evaluating a project’s risks and benefits or tracking its long term social and environmental impacts,” says Rachel Warden, Gender Justice Program Coordinator at KAIROS Canada. “Research by and with Indigenous women is filling a sizeable knowledge gap about how resource extraction impacts Indigenous women and community well-being.”
Symposium participants will also attend the GEMM (Global Energy Minerals and Markets) 2015 Dialogue, which takes place the day after the symposium.
The Gendered Impacts Symposium is an initiative of KAIROS Canada in partnership with First Nations Women Advocating for Responsible Mining (FNWARM), Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada , Quebec Native Women/Femmes autochtones du Québec, the Wabanaki Confederacy, and Amnesty International.
The symposium is part of a multi-year project and builds on the work of a KAIROS delegation of women to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May 2014 and a similar symposium in Ottawa in November 2014.
WHAT: Gendered Impacts Symposium: Indigenous Women and Resource Extraction
WHEN: Tuesday, October 13; 9:00am to 3:00pm
TIME FOR MEDIA INTERVIEWS: 3:00 to 3:30pm
WHERE: Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, Alma VanDusen and Peter Kaye Rooms (350 W Georgia St, Vancouver)
WHO Rachel Warden, Gender Justice Program Coordinator, KAIROS Canada;
Katy Quinn, Indigenous Rights Coordinator, KAIROS Canada
PRESENTERS:
Alma Brooks, Maliseet Nation, Grandmother, Wabanaki Confederacy
Gloria Chicaiza, Acción Ecológica (Ecuador)
Piya Macliing Malayao, Igorot tribe, KATRIBU, national alliance of Indigenous peoples organizations and Innabuyog Indigenous Women’s Collective (Philippines)
Elana Nightingale and Meeka Otway, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada
Verna Polson, Anishnabe Nation, Quebec Native Women/Femmes autochtones du Québec
Ann Marie Sam, Nak’azdli First Nation, First Nations Women Advocating for Responsible Mining
About KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
KAIROS is a faith-based social justice organization of eleven Canadian churches and religious organizations. It focuses on Indigenous rights, international human rights and ecological justice. We deliberate on issues of common concern, advocate for social change and join with people of faith and goodwill in action for social transformation. To learn more, visit kairoscanada.org.
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Media Contact:
Cheryl McNamara Rachel Warden
Media Coordinator Gender Justice Program Coordinator
877-403-8933 x 246 647-231-1263 (mobile)
416-875-0097 (mobile) rwarden@kairoscanada.org
cmcnamara@kairoscanada.org
