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Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (Sept21/19) Geneva, 23 Sep (Kanaga Raja) – Just as the impact of and responses to COVID-19 have disproportionately and negatively affected indigenous peoples, so too have State recovery efforts, a UN human rights expert has said. In his report to the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Mr Jose Francisco Cali Tzay, said an equitable and comprehensive COVID-19 recovery requires building back better than pre-pandemic times, when indigenous peoples experienced multiple forms of social and economic discrimination. In many cases, COVID-19 recovery laws have been solely geared at managing the economic crisis generated by the pandemic. Reports around the world further indicate that State measures for economic recovery have prioritized and supported the expansion of business operations at the expense of indigenous peoples, their lands and the environment. Instead, States must focus on a transformative recovery that maximizes opportunities for well-being in the post- COVID-19 era and respects human rights as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other relevant international human rights standards, said the Special Rapporteur. In his report to the Human Rights Council, which is currently holding its regular forty-eighth session, the rights expert said that indigenous peoples are leading initiatives to recover from the pandemic in ways that exercise their rights to self-determination and self-government, while reconnecting with their traditional lands and revitalizing cultural practices. State reconstruction and recovery need to support the efforts of indigenous peoples to restore traditional livelihoods and economies to sustain their communities, he added. IMPACT OF COVID-19 RECOVERY PLANS According to the Special Rapporteur, protection of indigenous territories is central to indigenous recovery from the health crisis as it promotes food security and sustainable livelihoods, increasing resilience in the face of future pandemics. In many countries, security of land tenure is more of a concern for indigenous peoples than the virus itself. They report rising illegal deforestation, incursions, land takings and violence during the pandemic with little government aid or oversight. Emergency orders are being used to accelerate resource exploration and extraction while stalling land demarcation and official recognition of areas that have been invaded. While government efforts to control illegal incursions into indigenous territories have declined, there have been amnesties for illegal logging, fishing and gold prospecting. Failing to formally recognize and protect indigenous lands is leading to violent incursions and killings, resource extraction, pollution, food insecurity, deforestation and evictions, said the rights expert. Certain avenues that indigenous communities typically use to monitor and resist land incursions from proponents of industrial and commercial projects have been curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Formal State recognition in the form of land demarcation and titling is necessary to protect the lands of indigenous peoples during and after the pandemic. COVID-19 presents a unique opportunity for sustainable recovery.” Securing land rights and engaging indigenous peoples as stewards of the environment and natural resources should be pillars for a better post-COVID-19 economic recovery, said the Special Rapporteur. Many indigenous communities have historically been denied recognized land tenure in areas traditionally used and inhabited by them. The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context has specifically called for a moratorium on all evictions during the pandemic. Nevertheless, indigenous peoples continue to be subjected to forced evictions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Forced evictions and land grabs during the pandemic have made it particularly difficult for communities to protect themselves, said the Special Rapporteur. There has been an alarming trend of States using the emergency situation and response created by the pandemic to weaken and suspend environmental enforcement, dismantle and bypass legal safeguards, loosen regulations to attract foreign investment and push through legal reforms to undermine environmental protections and the rights of indigenous peoples. At the same time, emergency pandemic measures have restricted the ability of indigenous peoples and other human rights defenders to resist such legislation and enforce their rights. The weakening of legal protections has resulted in environmental harm, provoked violent conflicts over territory and led to viral exposure through contact with incoming workers, said the rights expert. In South America, land demarcation processes have come to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic and some Governments have proposed legislative measures that authorize titling of indigenous lands to private companies, which encourages land invasions and territorial conflicts. Other policies in the region have been aimed at pushing through land-use changes and re-zoning of uncultivated land for agro-industrial use in areas where indigenous peoples have customary land rights. According to the rights expert, while States roll back environment safeguards and policies, mega-projects that indigenous peoples have long opposed are being expedited while restrictions on protests and gatherings remain in place. Reports indicate that Governments are proceeding with large-scale infrastructure projects to counter the economic recession caused by the pandemic. States have reportedly supported extractive industries on indigenous lands, granted official recognition of invaded areas, allowed forced evictions and displacement of indigenous communities, and failed to enforce private sector obligations to remedy adverse environmental impacts on indigenous territories. In response, said the Special Rapporteur, indigenous groups have created campaigns to raise awareness and demand that prospectors be removed from their territory. Governments are prioritizing mega-projects, the extractive industries, and agricultural development on the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples as a method of economic recovery. The Special Rapporteur said that by framing coal and other extractive industries as vehicles to promote economic recovery, States have commercialized the coal mining sector and expanded coal mines to deal with the short-term economic fallout from the pandemic without obtaining mandatory legal clearances or considering long-term environment and climate change impacts. The expansion of industrial agriculture has also been prioritized in some States as a method for economic recovery. According to the Special Rapporteur, the pandemic has been used as an opportunity to approve projects and policies, despite a lack of good faith consultations and the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. In instances where indigenous peoples have been invited to participate in consultations, they have been restricted by lockdowns or limited by COVID-19 measures prohibiting large gatherings. Some States are authorizing virtual consultations in place of in-person meetings to fulfil the duty to consult. However, online formats generally do not align with the cultural protocols or traditional forms of decision-making of indigenous peoples. Moreover, participation in consultation processes carried out in a virtual format is undermined by the limited connectivity and Internet access in the vast majority of indigenous territories. There is significant spatial overlap between the traditional lands of indigenous peoples and areas which retain the highest levels of biodiversity, said the Special Rapporteur. Traditional indigenous territories encompass around a quarter of the world’s land surface and they coincide with areas that hold some 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity. It has been estimated that 50 per cent of protected areas worldwide have been established on lands traditionally occupied and used by indigenous peoples. Studies have demonstrated that the territories of indigenous peoples who have been given land rights have been significantly better conserved than the adjacent lands. Importantly, there is a correlation between deforestation, habitat loss and outbreaks of infectious diseases. Deforestation not only threatens the survival of indigenous peoples, it disrupts fragile ecosystems, causing the emergence of infectious zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19, said the rights expert. For example, reports show that gold mining and associated land-clearing have caused a surge in malaria infections among indigenous peoples. Of all new human infectious diseases, around 75 per cent are zoonotic. Zoonotic diseases are attributed to people and their livestock encroaching further into animal habitats, allowing viruses, such as COVID-19 and other disease-causing agents, to jump from animals to humans. According to the Special Rapporteur, COVID-19 recovery measures need to address the long-term needs and financial impacts of the pandemic on indigenous peoples in terms of education, employment, housing, health and other social services. “Many countries lack the social protection measures needed to address the widening inequality experienced by indigenous peoples as a result of COVID-19, or have reduced budgets for existing social protections from which indigenous peoples benefit.” The allocation of financial resources to mitigate economic losses caused by the pandemic have been insufficient or State agencies have under-spent budgets earmarked for indigenous peoples, forcing some to migrate to cities in search of employment. Indigenous peoples do not always receive government COVID-19 benefits because of administrative requirements to present documents; the failure to consider “differing cultural definitions of a nuclear family”; and the absence of national identity cards and mobile phone accounts. The inability to access banks and other payment agencies near communities forces people to travel to cities and increases their risk of viral infection and transmission. Concerns have been raised by UNESCO that while Governments currently focus on short-term impulses towards an economic recovery, education is not sufficiently in focus and even facing financial cuts. States should support multi-lingual, inter-cultural education that incorporates sustainable development concepts in COVID-19 national recovery plans, said the Special Rapporteur. “A disproportionately high percentage of indigenous children do not have access to the Internet at home, which creates barriers to education and causes disengagement from learning.” Closing the technological gap will allow indigenous communities greater opportunity to work and study remotely. Internet access is also necessary to communicate emergency information during future pandemics, he said. In terms of employment, many indigenous peoples work in the informal economy taking jobs as domestic workers, day-labourers and farmers without access to social benefits. The Special Rapporteur said that in the context of the COVID-19 recovery, targeted employment programmes are necessary to assist workers and these should have a special focus on women who are experiencing the highest rates of unemployment during the pandemic. However, States have reportedly pushed through reforms and changes in labour laws that dismantle rights leaving the most vulnerable to bear the financial burden of economic recovery. Indigenous workers are particularly vulnerable to poor working condition due to discrimination and systemic exclusion, high levels of poverty, lack of education and unemployment. Indigenous peoples have been severely and disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and face higher risks of infection and death from it, especially as new variants of the virus continue to emerge, he added. Despite the increased vulnerability of indigenous peoples to the virus caused by lack of basic health services, sanitation and other infrastructure vaccine roll-out for indigenous peoples, in particular those living in remote areas, has mostly not been prioritized. The Special Rapporteur underlined that swift international cooperation is required for the equitable and universal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. He said “vaccine nationalism” risks infringing the extraterritorial obligations of States and the human rights related to the right to health, as it results in a shortage of vaccines for those who are most in need in the least developed countries. States should ensure that vaccines are available to all persons free of discrimination, including indigenous peoples, and should support programmes such as COVAX, the global initiative for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. The inclusion and participation of indigenous peoples in recovery plans is impossible when States neglect or refuse to recognize the existence and identity of indigenous peoples. If indigenous peoples and their territories are left unrecognized, States will not consult on recovery laws or policies, or develop plans to protect indigenous territories in the interest of economic recovery, said the Special Rapporteur. The lack of disaggregated data presents challenges in achieving recovery from COVID-19, because statistics do not accurately reflect the impact of the pandemic on indigenous peoples. Data should include both indigenous peoples living on traditional lands and territories as well as populations living in urban areas, he added. INCLUSION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN COVID-19 RECOVERY PLANS Indigenous peoples should be involved in the planning and implementation of COVID-19 recovery measures that affect them, said the Special Rapporteur. In many States, over one year after the pandemic broke out, there has been little or no effort to involve or consult with indigenous peoples on the design of recovery policies, address their specific needs for assistance or adopt culturally appropriate recovery measures. By failing to consult with indigenous peoples, Governments have designed economic recovery plans that fail to take into account appropriately the needs of indigenous peoples. Vaccination campaigns are often implemented without adequate planning and communication. Vaccination plans are being adopted in the absence of meaningful consultations with indigenous communities to ensure that they are informed, to address their cultural and linguistic needs, physical isolation and the lack of health-care infrastructure and personnel and medicines. That in turn, compounded by systemic marginalization and discrimination, has resulted in low vaccination rates among indigenous peoples, said the rights expert. In the face of historic and ongoing colonialism and the triggering of inter-generational trauma from memories of past pandemics spread through colonization, indigenous peoples have shown great resilience and collective strength during the pandemic, he added. However, the rights expert said challenges remain in addressing the setbacks and aftershocks from COVID-19 that will resonate for years to come, such as long-term impacts on health, economic and social development and nation- building, especially for communities with limited capacity for recovery. Despite these challenges, there are still many examples of indigenous-led initiatives achieving positive outcomes. Rather than relying on government aid, indigenous nations are exercising their sovereignty, laws and jurisdictions to implement and enforce measures against COVID-19, in some cases across jurisdictional patch-works. “States should provide support for such community protection plans devised autonomously by indigenous peoples.” Indigenous nations and organizations have led coordinated, community-level responses that include reconnecting with traditional territories and knowledge, increasing food sovereignty, managing humanitarian and mutual aid networks, implementing culturally appropriate information campaigns in indigenous languages, broadcasting education campaigns on indigenous community radio, and assisting with the roll-out of vaccine programmes, said the Special Rapporteur.
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