Nordic seminar: Indigenous peoples: language, culture, and life cycle
How do we respect and implement rights of indigenous people with disabilities in the Nordic region? What are the challenges to meet the needs of indigenous people with dementia in sparsely populated areas?
The Nordic webinar: Indigenous peoples: language, culture, and life cycle was organised as part of Finland's Presidency of Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021.
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The aim of the project was to contribute to the priority Welfare for all and raise awareness and knowledge of good practices that provide equal and secure health and welfare services for all with special focus on indigenous peoples, disability, and dementia in the Arctic Region. The project aimed to ensure social security and social rights for vulnerable groups of individuals among the indigenous peoples in the Nordic Region.
The project focused on the prevention of social inequality and marginalization of socially vulnerable individuals and groups. Moreover, the webinar discussed the option to increase client/patient mobility in the Nordic region, and use of welfare technology, assessment methods, or other equipment that allows equal treatment and service provision for the indigenous peoples in the Nordic Region by supporting their right to maintain their own language and culture.
The two-day online event focused on how indigenous persons with disabilities are exposed to multiple discrimination, while taking special account of people with dementia. The first day of this webinar raised the issue of how the human rights intersect, highlighting key human rights obligations and recommendations from the perspective of both indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities.
Another theme of the webinar was positive discrimination, and the right to language and identity. The second day focused on provision of future language- and culture-sensitive services particularly in sparsely populated areas, with a life cycle perspective, and provided a vision for un-questionable provision of language and culture-sensitive services for indigenous peoples.
The webinars raised the awareness that national politicians, government programs, and national budgets in the Nordic countries could take into consideration the exceptional situation of persons with disabilities or dementia in the minority groups such as indigenous peoples. Sámi Parliaments and SámiSoster could describe how their situation is affected by policies in the countries, and to state the needs of the Sámi population. The webinar also offered floor to the representatives from Greenland to express their situation.