FCC Makes Historic Announcement at WEWIN Conference
Prior Lake, MN, July 31, 2024 – Women Empowering Women in Indigenous Nations (WEWIN) held their 20th annual conference on the ancestral homelands of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community from July 29th to July 31st, 2024. The Mission Statement of WEWIN states:
To strengthen and sustain tribal cultures for the benefit and destiny of the children; To educate about tribal cultures, the history of native people, the inherent rights we exercise for the good of our people and others, and current issues that affect our well being; To promote honest dignified tribal leadership who reflect pride for those we represent; To support and encourage tribal leadership.
At the conference, the Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, announced the upcoming Commission vote on August 7, 2024, to create the “Missing and Endangered Persons” or MEP alert code in the emergency alert system. Like the AMBER alert for missing children, this alert code is for missing or endangered persons 17 years and older.
Indigenous women in the United States are 2.5 times more likely to experience violence in their lifetime, and 80% of Indigenous women have experienced violence in their lifetime. “The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates that there are more than 4,000 cases of missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Natives that are unsolved.,” states Chairwoman Rosenworcel. Indigenous people comprise over 3% of reported missing persons in the United States while only making up less than 1% of the population.
Even with these alarming statistics, Chairwoman Rosenworsel provided hope to reduce these disproportionate statistics by creating the MEP alert code. “One of the most effective initiatives we have had to assist with the recovery of endangered kids are AMBER alerts. AMBER alerts have been around for nearly three decades. They tell us on television, radio, and wireless phones when a child goes missing. In one of our Tribal consultations on this issue, a participant shared that her Tribe issued eight AMBER alerts, and in all eight cases, the missing child was successfully recovered. AMBER alerts demonstrate that there is a way to raise awareness when someone goes missing and increase the odds that we safely find them.” It is the hope that the success of the AMBER alerts will translate to the MEP Event Code for the recovery of our missing and endangered relatives.
WEWIN Board President Susan Masten stated, “This year’s conference theme, ‘Women Leadership: Strength, Values, and Power,’ reflects our deep-rooted traditional values guiding us towards impactful decisions that resonate with future generations.” The creation of the MEP event code could not have come at a better time and could drastically increase the protection of all our Indigenous relatives.
“The MEP Event Code is an important step towards protecting our Indigenous communities; however, this is just the beginning of efforts. Sself-advocacy for our Indigenous communities will require work that involves our youth, Tribal leaders, community leaders, and our Elders,” said Brian Wadsworth, Financial Director for Native Public Media.
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To learn more about the FCC’s proposed rulemaking for the Missing and Endangered Persons Event Code, please visit: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-vote-emergency-alert-code-missing-endangered-persons
To attend the Open Meeting, scheduled for August 7th, 2024, please visit: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-hold-open-commission-meeting-wednesday-august-07-2024
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