A statement by Carol McBride, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide| Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC)

A statement by Carol McBride, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Published on December 9, 2023

“It has been 75 years since the world came together, in the aftermath of the horrors of the Second World War, to condemn the crime of genocide.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Convention) declared that human lives must never again be threatened based on nationality, ethnicity, race, or religious affiliation.

It is a concept that is fundamental to basic human rights and social justice. Yet, throughout history, we have seen it trampled beneath the feet of racism, xenophobia, imperialism, and colonization.

Sadly, the 1948 Convention did not end the act of genocide. A national inquiry has declared that it continues in Canada today in the disproportionate levels of violence being directed at Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender and gender-diverse people.

The Convention gives voice to the international community’s unwillingness to tolerate these mass acts of atrocity. It said that the Contracting Parties will hold perpetrators accountable when people commit acts of genocide , or.

As Indigenous women, we know the importance of human rights-based declarations. It has been three quarters of a century since the nations of Mother Earth came together to enact this critical Convention . We hope, that our future generations will not grow up in a world with senseless brutality and genocide

-30-

About The Native Women’s Association of Canada

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is a national Indigenous organization representing political voices of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse people in Canada. NWAC is inclusive of First Nations—on- and off-reserve, status, non-status, and disenfranchised—Inuit, and Métis. An aggregate of Indigenous women’s organizations from across the country, NWAC was founded on a collective goal to enhance, promote, and foster social, economic, cultural, and political well-being of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse people within their respective communities and Canadian societies.

À propos de l'Association des femmes autochtones du Canada

L'Association des femmes autochtones du Canada (AFAC) est une organisation autochtone nationale qui représente la voix politique des femmes, des filles, des transgenres, des bispirituels et des personnes de sexe différent au Canada, y compris les membres des Premières nations vivant dans les réserves et hors réserve, les Indiens inscrits et non inscrits, les personnes privées de leurs droits, les Métis et les Inuits. Regroupant des organisations de femmes autochtones de tout le pays, l'AFAC a été fondée dans le but collectif d'améliorer, de promouvoir et de favoriser le bien-être social, économique, culturel et politique des femmes autochtones au sein de leurs communautés respectives et des sociétés canadiennes.

Back

A statement by Carol McBride, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide