Moving Forward on Poverty Reduction in Nunavut

News Release

Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Commit to Moving Forward on Poverty Reduction

IQALUIT, Nunavut (October 24, 2012) – Premier Eva Aariak http://www.premier.gov.nu.ca/apps/authoring/dspPage.aspx?page=home and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) President Cathy Towtongie http://www.tunngavik.com/ today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Nunavut Roundtable for Poverty Reduction and announced the development of a Nunavut Food Security Strategy.

The MOU is an agreement for collaboration between the government and NTI to implement The Makimaniq Plan: A Shared Approach to Poverty Reduction. The establishment of the Nunavut Food Security Coalition and the preparation of a territorial action plan on food security is a principal goal of The Makimaniq Plan. http://www.makiliqta.ca/

"This MOU sustains the Government of Nunavut's commitment to collaborate with partners to reduce poverty, increase accountability, assess results and ensure it remains a priority for future governments," said Premier Eva Aariak. "As part of this commitment, we aim to develop a food security strategy that finds practical solutions to one of our most urgent societal issues."

"NTI is excited to build upon our existing partnership with the GN on poverty reduction in Nunavut. We are proud of the public engagement process, which culminated in The Makimaniq Plan, and we now look forward to working with our partners to produce Nunavut-made solutions. NTI believes and expects these solutions to positively impact Inuit. Action must be taken now on food security," said President Towtongie.

The MOU specifies that the Nunavut Roundtable for Poverty Reduction will have two principal purposes: to fulfill the requirements of Article 32 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement with respect to poverty reduction, and to ensure ongoing collaboration in the implementation of The Makimaniq Plan: A Shared Commitment to Poverty Reduction.

Development of the Nunavut Food Security Strategy begins this fall with a series of roundtable sessions and includes a Nunavut Food Security Symposium scheduled for January 2013 in Iqaluit. Symposium participants will collaborate on the preparation of a food security strategy for Nunavut, to be released in the spring 2013.

The four-month strategy process will bring together members of the Nunavut Food Security Coalition and representatives from all organizations involved in the production, distribution and consumption of food in the territory, including harvesters, producers, retailers, Inuit organizations, government departments, communities and non-governmental organizations.

The Nunavut Food Security Coalition is made up of representatives from seven GN departments, NTI and each of the three Regional Inuit Associations. The coalition is co-chaired by GN's Department of Health and Social Services and NTI's Department of Social and Cultural Development.

The Nunavut Roundtable for Poverty Reduction is co-sponsored by the GN and NTI; however, membership is open to any organization that wishes to contribute toward the reduction of poverty in Nunavut as outlined in The Makimaniq Plan.

For more information contact:
Emily Woods Press Secretary Office of the Premier Government of Nunavut 867-975-5059 ewoods@gov.nu.ca

Kerry McCluskey Director of Communications Department of Corporate Services Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Tel: 867-975-4914 Cell: 867-222-2893 Toll-free: 1-888-646-0006 KMcCluskey@tunngavik.com