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Interview with Alona Yefimenko

Alona Yefimenko
Photo: Stig Brøndbo

By Stig Brøndbo, Journalist/Communications Advisor, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

During her twenty years at the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat, Alona Yefimenko has witnessed the permanent participants grow to become stronger voices.

In 1991 the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), the Saami Council (SC) and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON)
became observers in the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS). Three years later the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat was established to support the indigenous organizations in the AEPS.

During her twenty years at the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat, Alona Yefimenko has witnessed the permanent participants grow to become stronger voices. “In the beginning some of the organizations that we today know as ‘permanent participants’ had little capacity due to a lack of funding, language problems and binding commitments from the  national Arctic governments,” says Alona Yefimenko, technical advisor in the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples Secretariat (IPS). The IPS served as a communication centre for many of the Arctic indigenous peoples and promoted linkages between different stakeholders within the AEPS.

After the IPS became a part of the Arctic Council in 1996, three more organizations were added: the Aleut International Association (AIA) in 1998, the Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC) in 2000 and the Gwich’in Council International (GCI) in 2000. Today, the six organizations all have a seat at the Arctic Council table together with the eight member states. “Our role has always been to assist the indigenous peoples’ organizations in preparing for meetings, facilitating dialogue between these organizations and governments, and distributing information about the Arctic Council to the Arctic communities,” Yefimenko says.

The Russian-born IPS advisor has been working for the organization since 1996. In 2016 the IPS moves its office from Copenhagen, Denmark to Tromsø, Norway. “For me this will be a big change and an interesting opportunity to be part of the Arctic Council Secretariat, and I hope that the permanent participants will find our new location helpful and effective,” Yefimenko says. She has witnessed the permanent participants become more efficient and grow stronger over the years. “But the IPS remains very important for the permanent participants as their support secretariat,” Yefimenko concludes.

Table of Contents

  1. Letter from the Editor in Chief

    By Outi Snellman

  2. 20 Years of Peaceful Cooperation

    By Børge Brende

  3. Celebrating 20 Years of the Arctic Council

    By David Balton

  4. International Cooperation for Arctic Prosperity

    By Sergey Lavrov

  5. Minister Greetings: Finland

    By Timo Soini

  6. Minister Greetings: Iceland

    By Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson

  7. Setting the Stage for Arctic Cooperation

    By Eirik Sivertsen

  8. It All Started in Rovaniemi

    By Markku Heikkilä

  9. Interview with Mary Simon

    By Stig Brøndbo

  10. Interview with Thorvald Stoltenberg

    By Stig Brøndbo

  11. Interview with Sheila Watt-Cloutier

    By Stig Brøndbo

  12. The Role of the Working Groups in the Work of the Arctic Council

    By David Stone and Lars-Otto Reiersen

  13. Science to Policy: Arctic Biodiversity Assessment

    By Tom Barry and Courtney Price

  14. The Arctic Council: A Model for Cooperation

    By Timo Koivurova

  15. The Arctic Council: A Victory for Soft Law & Soft Security

    By Heather Exner-Pirot

  16. The Arctic Council: Maintaining Peace Through Cooperation

    By Michael Byers

  17. Arctic Human Development

    By Joan Nymand Larsen and Gail Fondahl

  18. Towards Revival of Arctic Cooperation

    By Olli Rehn

  19. The Arctic Economic Council: Connecting with the Business Community

    By Tara Sweeney

  20. Love & Peace

    By Else Berit Eikeland and Gunn-Britt Retter

  21. Working Inside the Arctic Council: Arctic Change and World Reindeer Herders

    By Mikhail Pogodaev and Anders Oskal

  22. Observer States in the Arctic Council: A Way Forward to Better Cooperation

    By Justin Kim

  23. The Arctic: A Place for the Miraculous

    By Chen Yitong

  24. The Arctic Council Adapting to the Future

    By Arild Moe, Svein Vigeland Rottem and Olav Schram Stokke

  25. The Way Forward for the Arctic Council

    By Oran R. Young

  26. Student Profiles

    By students from Arctic states

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