Background: Transformative Actions for UNDRIP Advancement

As part of our commitment to reconciliation and upholding the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), REFBC launched the Transformative Actions for UNDRIP Advancement: The Next $100 Million (TAUA) action plan in September 2024.

TAUA set the course for REFBC to meaningfully and transparently advance UNDRIP in its granting, governance, and operations. TAUA was developed through a partnership between REFBC and the inaugural REFBC UNDRIP Fellow, Tara Marsden/Naxginkw.

Developing TAUA was inclusive, dialogue-focused, and data-driven. It prioritized Indigenous experience, knowledge, and direction. Once a draft had been completed, it was shared with First Nations in BC, the general public, and other stakeholders. Based on feedback from this outreach and engagement, additional actions and commitments were incorporated.

TAUA sets the course for REFBC and its granting and investment community on how to meaningfully and transparently advance UNDRIP in its work. Its objectives are to:

1. Develop, in collaboration with BC First Nations and the REFBC grantee and advisor community, a short document that clearly articulates REFBC’s commitment to UNDRIP in its granting work.
2. Provide a roadmap for current and potential grantees on how to embody and carry forward this commitment in their projects.
3. Identify a clear problem/challenge/opportunity nexus on unceded lands, Indigenous displacement, and redress as outlined in UNDRIP.
4. Share a glimpse of the REFBC story in why and how this was developed, and encourage further inquiry, opportunities for peer learning and sharing more broadly in the funding community.
5. Provide certainty and communicate commitments to institutional change to Indigenous (specifically First Nations) Peoples on the use of funds generated from their unceded lands in BC.
6. Provide a starting point and incremental step towards broader transformative institutional change that engages First Nations leadership and communities as decision makers.

Fifty Actions

The TAUA contains 50 transformative actions in three categories:

Grants

An important way REFBC advances its mission is through delivery of grants programs and partnerships in five priority areas and, more recently, the Indigenous Grants Stream. As a philanthropic funder, there are numerous questions that inform the granting process and are especially relevant to Indigenous Peoples, their rights, and their lands and waters.

Governance

Governance actions relate to legislation, by-laws, policies, and procedures that guide the Board in its purpose, terms of reference, roles, and responsibilities, and approach to decision-making and delegation of authority. They speak to current formal relationships with the Province of British Columbia, appointing bodies, partnerships, and committees as well as potential future states.

Operations

From staff hiring and prerequisites, to communications, finance and investments, and ongoing learning and professional development, there are a multitude of opportunities to infuse UNDRIP throughout the foundation operations.

Each action was further classified into the following categories based on the time and effort required to implement them:

• Early Action/In Progress: Actions which are more easily attainable and do not require significant additional resources or capacity to implement.
• Longer-term Change: Actions which may take additional time to implement or build on Early Actions.
• Transformative Change: Actions which will take additional time to implement and are significantly more transformative in nature.
• Legislative Change Required: As REFBC is governed by the provincial Real Estate Services Act, some transformative change will require legislative change under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) process.

Annual Progress Reports

The TAUA framework was developed to guide REFBC’s commitments to action, accountability, and transparency. As part of this framework, REFBC committed to reporting annually on progress toward each of the 50 actions. The purpose of the annual TAUA progress reports is to:

1. Provide an account of progress on the implementation of the 50 transformative actions for UNDRIP advancement outlined in the TAUA.
2. Hold REFBC accountable for its commitments, and systematize the transparency required to ensure this accountability.
3. Share with First Nations the results of the progress and seek feedback on next priorities and any adaptations or amendments to the TAUA actions based on progress results.
4. Share with the general public, the grantee community, other philanthropic organizations, and the real estate sector the continuation of the work outlined in the TAUA and offer an opportunity for feedback.
5. Acknowledge achievements and address challenges in implementing the 50 actions outlined in the TAUA.

Read the reports and the action plan on the TAUA page.