When it comes to compliance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, one BC organization has risen above the crowd.
A new report from Gowling WLG has found that the First Nations Health Authority is frequently referenced as a model for UNDRIP implementation among health care providers.
It found that, by placing the delivery of health care in the hands of Indigenous people, the FNHA’s model complies with all aspects of UNDRIP.
According to the report, their design and governance not only complies, but represents an international gold standard in Indigenous health care.
Despite that, the report also found that the FNHA’s work and funding have been limited by Canada and BC’s failures to satisfy their obligations.
It still brought forward three recommendations to make space for and validate post-colonial models of decision-making and governance, on a nation-by-nation basis.
Those include: creating a process to recognize new or restored First Nations self-governance, modifying service delivery area boundaries, and budgeting for service delivery at the level of individual Nations.
