The Unama’ki Emergency Alert System, a pioneering project designed to improve emergency response and communication within five First Nations communities in Cape Breton, offers a blueprint for how community-driven solutions can enhance safety for Indigenous women and communities across Canada.

“4,127 — that’s how many people are registered to receive alerts across our five Cape Breton Indigenous communities…. 183 — that’s how many alerts we’ve sent since its inception. 67 — that’s how many young people we have reunited with their families because of the alerts,” Jennifer Jesty told members of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women in Ottawa this past March.

The committee was discussing the proposed national Red Dress Alert System, aimed at addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada.