Pjila’si, maajii, introduction
Since our last annual report, released in July 2023, we have been working to create an improved report that reflects our collective experiences over the course of the last reporting period. The 2023-2024 Annual Report captures both the completion of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act) Action Plan, released on June 21, 2023, and the subsequent launch of the implementation phase.
Purpose, scope and limitations
Section 7 of the UN Declaration Act states that annual reports must be prepared, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, to report on progress made during the previous fiscal year (April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024) to implement section 5 of the Act – measures to ensure consistency of laws with the UN Declaration, and section 6 – the development and implementation of the Action Plan.
To inform this report, input was gathered from Indigenous partners from January 2024 through May 2024. This included input on the reporting template and the report. Although the number of Indigenous partners we engaged with on the annual report has more than tripled from last year, we acknowledge that 56 responses is still a small fraction of Indigenous perspectives. Considering the breadth, scope, and application of the UN Declaration Act, we acknowledge that more time will be needed moving forward.
Methodology and approach
As the 2023-2024 Annual Report is the first following the release of the Action Plan, we have begun tracking progress on implementation in a way that also reflects Indigenous peoples’ perspectives, to the extent shared with us by those who responded, with the hope of demonstrating transparency, accountability and responsiveness.
To improve this year’s report, we wanted to ensure that we acknowledged and responded to what we heard from Indigenous partners over the past year. One of the things that we heard loud, clear, and repeatedly was how important it is to Indigenous partners that their voices be heard and reflected in reporting. We also heard that a gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) lens needs to be woven throughout the report. What you will read is our best attempt to do this.
We also approached a few things differently this year. Instead of creating an outline for Indigenous partners to react to, we asked Indigenous partners what questions they considered most relevant to gather the information we needed to develop the report. These questions and the responses from 56 Indigenous partners (Annex A) form an integral part of this report.
In addition, Justice Canada developed digital reporting tools to document and streamline implementation updates from across the federal government and from Indigenous partners more easily. Status updates, which can be found in Annex B, were collected from 43 federal departments and agencies, covering 178 Action Plan measures. We will continue to work and commit to providing capacity support, to the extent possible, to ensure fulsome consultation and cooperation with Indigenous partners and collaboration with federal government departments, in every stage of the Action Plan implementation, to improve reporting as we continue along this journey of implementing the UN Declaration Act.
Department of Justice Canada
- Date modified: