UN DPI NGO 63rd World Conference on Global Health
Closing keynote speech
Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
Melbourne Conference Centre, Melbourne
1 September 2010
I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land we are meeting on today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, and pay my respects to their Elders and Ancestors.
I’d also like to acknowledge my distinguished fellow speakers at this closing session today, and the distinguished company in the room...
And as an Australian, and an Indigenous Australian, I’d also like to acknowledge our guests from around the world and in particular my Indigenous brothers and sisters from other countries here today.
As Mr. Akasaka has pointed out, I am the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission.
For those of you who may not know, the Commission is the major human rights institution in Australia. It is government-funded but otherwise completely independent of government and operates under the Paris Principles.
And my role requires me to monitor the human rights of Australia’s Indigenous peoples, and report annually to our federal Parliament in that regard.
Can I start by saying I am continually reminded of the critical need for global action on global issues like poverty that affects all nations in some way or another.
And in particular, the importance of global frameworks such as the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals, and the underlying human rights principles upon which they rest.
The message is getting louder and louder, and not just in the halls of UN institutions: that poverty and inequity are human rights issues, of universal concern.
And I’ve been impressed by some of the common problems that face us all as NGOs even though the political circumstances and the cultures we come from and work in vary enormously.
What I’d like to do today is walk a somewhat difficult line of identifying some of those common problems or themes that I’ve observed, and link it back to an Australian NGO-initiative - the Close the Gap Campaign for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equality.
The Campaign was inspired by the same sort of thinking as that behind the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.
It was based on the fundamental recognition that the poor state of Indigenous health in this country was a human rights issue
And as you have heard from Barbara Flick Nicoll and others, there is a life expectancy gap in Australia of from 10 to 17 years between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
And behind that there is a mass of other statistical divides in relation to specific conditions and in relation to the social determinants of health: significantly higher rates of chronic and communicable diseases and poorer infant and maternal health, for example., to link the Campaign to the MDG’s subject matters.
Covering the kind of inequity suffered by many of my Indigenous brother and sister populations throughout the world.
It was relative poverty that was the issue here: Australia was like two countries – a low or medium developed country - Indigenous Australia - nested inside a highly developed one.
And without disaggregation, the poor state of Indigenous health became invisible – Numerically we are 2.5% of a population that enjoys some of the best health and longest life expectation in the world.
And so the Australian Government did not see its relationship to the MDGs in terms of that ‘other country’ nested within. It looked outward; it saw its main role was providing aid to others, the poor countries ‘over there’.
But like the MDGs, the idea of the Close the Gap Campaign was to bring this inequality to an end in an short a time as possible, with an unprecedented national effort to achieve Indigenous health equality guided by a national plan incorporating ambitious, yet realistic, measurable targets.
The Close the Gap Campaign’s goal is to close the 10 – 17 life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non- Indigenous Australians within a generation, by 2030.
And this broad goal would encompass sub-targets relating to the subject matters of MDGs 4, 5 and 6 – in relation to reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating disease.
The Campaign aims to do this through the adoption by Australian governments of a comprehensive national plan of action that is properly resourced and that has the goal of achieving health equality for Indigenous peoples here by 2030.
And I think the role of planning is crucial in any exercise like the Campaign or achieving the MDGs in any country or region within a country. And I’ve been impressed, for example, by some of the large scale planning that is needed to, for example, deliver the polio elimination program in India as was highlighted in a workshop here, and such planning is obviously vital if targets like the MDGs are to be met.
The Campaign’s approach, like the MDGs, is based on empowerment, it is respectful of culture, and it is aligned with human rights framework, with a particular (but not exclusive) focus on the right to health.
Hence the plan I have mentioned would be developed and implemented by Australian governments working in partnership with Indigenous peoples and their representatives.
And this is another theme that has emerged here – partnership, empowerment, ownership of programs by the people who they are designed to help. These are vital elements of any poverty alleviation effort.
Working together is another theme that has come through so strongly in this conference. And like so many of the initiatives highlighted here, the Close the Gap Campaign is essentially a group of Australian NGOs working together and offering leadership.
And in particular Indigenous NGOs, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation who have been presenting here, and the Indigenous professional bodies (the dentists, doctors, nurses, psychologists and so on) .
As have international NGOs such as Oxfam and some of our home-grown NGOs such as the Fred Hollows Foundation which does such fantastic work here and overseas.
To date, 140 000 Australians have formally pledged their support for the campaign.
And we are particularly pleased that Australia’s National Rugby League have joined the campaign, dedicating an annual round of matches to Close the Gap: ‘branded’ matches with messages about Indigenous health that are broadcast to millions along with their matches.
But persuading government to make the investments needed has been our primary goal. And in that regard, the Campaign has enjoyed significant success, although there is still some way to go.
In August 2007, the Australian Labor Party in Federal Opposition signaled its support for the CTG approach in its Indigenous affairs election platform, and following the election of the Labor Government, many aspects of the Campaign became official government policy.
In December 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (an extra-constitutional body within which Australian governments tackle issues of national importance) adopted the Campaign’s target to achieve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy equality with a generation and to halve the mortality rate of under-5 Indigenous mortality rate within ten years (by 2018).
In fact, by mid-2009, a total of six COAG ‘closing the gap’ targets had been announced. Two are health specific, two relate to employment and two education.
A touchstone of the Campaign is the Close the Gap Campaign Statement of Intent signed by Prime Minister Rudd, the Minister for Health and Ageing and the federal Opposition Leader in 2008.
And this document like the Millennium Declaration and the MDGs, containing goals and principles for bringing Indigenous health inequality to an end in as short a time as possible.
And since then the bulk of our state and territory governments have also signed up, so it is truly a national document.
Of course, implementation remains and issue, just as it is for the MDGs. For while the Campaign has provided the impetus for almost $5billion in close the gap branded programs to alleviate poverty and improve health among Indigenous Australians significant elements of the Campaign, such as the national planning process, are yet to effectively begin.
But there’s no doubt that the Campaign has made an enormous difference, bringing billions of dollars of resources to Indigenous health, and fundamentally re-framing the conversation in this country, just as the MDGs have done internationally.
So the message I leave you with is one of hope and empowerment. Do not underestimate what you can do, and don’t leave it up to governments!
Poverty, whether absolute or relative, whether within our nations or outside, is everyone’s business.
And with tools like the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals we can make the difference.
And I look forward to hearing how the conference feeds into the MDG Summit this September.
Thank you
