Abstract

The Communique calls for a National Framework for Action and an Institute for First Nations Gender Justice and Equality. This work is about constructing our own table, so we have power and control over the decisions that impact our lives. The energy of our sisterhood, the spirit of this Summit, will create the foundations, scaffolding and focus of the Framework and Institute.

At a point in history when big structural reforms and social and environmental shifts are occurring, listening and responding to our women and girls’ voices has never been more vital. To design a future grounded in our self-determination, which recognises, affirms and supports all that weare and will achieve, and enables us to reclaim and regenerate our systems that work, we call for:

• Our voices, expereinces and solutions to be centred in decision-making about our futures
• The recognition that our cultures are foundational to societal and ecological health and wellbeing
• The development of models for financial reinvestment through a First Nations gender lens
• Placing care at the heart of policy design
• Genuine and authentic collaborations to address and overcome systemic challenges
• Policies for First Nations women to embrace our voices equally in all their diversity, including sistergiels and transwomen, non-binary people, children and people with disability