Indigenous Youth Advocacy Week 

In Spring 2022, CRE will host a virtual Indigenous Youth Advocacy Week. The Advocacy Week will provide Indigenous youth with opportunities to connect with government leaders and policymakers to share their ideas, visions, and priorities for federal policies on a range of key issues, to be identified by the youth selected to participate.

This engagement and advocacy will allow youth participants to impact how senior government officials make collaborative and informed decisions and co-develop policies and legislation in the future. This will be a great opportunity for Indigenous youth to provide insight, voice concerns, and impact federal policies and programs moving forward.   

Why now? 

Policy decisions have impacts far beyond the rooms where they are negotiated and designed, and their repercussions are often felt most by communities who have had limited opportunities to influence those decisions.

For Indigenous people and communities, some of these repercussions include significant challenges around access to clean drinking water, education and employment support, health-based resources, and much more. Despite the extent of these impacts, Indigenous people and communities are infrequently and inconsistently consulted on policy decisions. For Indigenous youth in particular, there are huge gaps in the ways they are consulted, considering their role as the current and future leaders of our communities.  

As we consider how we are collaborating to vision a better future, it is important to amplify and create space for Indigenous youth to learn, grow, and guide the policy decisions that will impact them, their families, and future generations.  

The Indigenous Youth Advocacy Week will provide space for Indigenous youth to not only meet with government officials, but to do so confidently and well equipped with the lessons they will learn from the capacity-building sessions, mentorship, and networking opportunities they will engage in during the weeks before.

These sessions will also provide guidance on solidarity and anti-racism and equip youth with the skills to meaningfully engage with elected officials and senior policymakers in a way that emphasizes the need for policies that reflect the diverse and intersectional needs of Indigenous communities.