Learn more aboue global processes, the Indigenous Peoples' movement and IWGIA's work in countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia and how Indigenous Peoples are reacting to and are affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Indigenous Peoples at increased risk due to coronavirus
Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Defenders are more at risk of being targeted as movement is restricted and governments broaden laws.
Already marginalised, Indigenous Peoples chronically lack proper access to health resources and information, further exacerbating the risk to their communities in times of emergency.
Indigenous Peoples are responding to the pandemic using self-determined protection mechanisms.
India’s indigenous peoples bearing the brunt of COVID recovery plans, NGOs urge Indian Government to stop use of coal for recovery
Copenhagen/New Delhi, 11 September 2020: On the eve of auctioning of 41 coal blocks today by the government of India, the Danish-based International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs and New Delhi based National Campaign Against Torture and Indigenous Lawyers Association of India in their report, “Bearing the Brunt: The Impact of Government Responses to COVI-19 on Indigenous Peoples in India” urged the Government of India to cancel auctioning of the coal blocks as part of India’s Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-Reliant India Mission).
COVID-19 Pandemic Multiplies Burden and Vulnerabilities of Indigenous Women in Asia
Thailand, June 22 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened humanity and wellbeing globally. The severity of its impact on Indigenous Peoples, especially Indigenous women and girls, Indigenous persons with disability and the elderly are disproportionate and grave in Asia. They are facing aggravated health risks, food insecurity, loss of employment and livelihood, increased violence against Indigenous Women, and threats to their lives due to military campaign and intensive attack on their lands and territories.
The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples, exacerbating underlying structural inequalities and pervasive discrimination. These serious impacts need to be specifically addressed in the response to and aftermath of this crisis.1
Reaction by States to the pandemic has been mixed, with some States rolling out COVID-19 programmes specifically focusing on indigenous peoples. Others have been providing a more limited level of support and some States are failing to adopt specific policies and at times neglecting even to include indigenous peoples in general COVID-19 responses. At the same time, indigenous peoples, as active agents and drivers of change, are finding their own solutions to respond to the health crisis, relying on traditional knowledge and practices,2 through their own representative institutions or self-government, as noted by indigenous representatives from several countries.
Press Statement: International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission
June 26, 2020, Dhaka
The International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission is alarmed at the reports of allegations of human rights violations, especially against the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past few months, as the pandemic spread into the three hill districts, widespread human rights violations have been reported by the security forces and the police, as well as vigilante groups, which includes cases of harassment, intimidation, arbitrary house searches, attack on religious places of worship, abduction and threats against indigenous leaders, activists and prisoners. While the pandemic has affected the indigenous people in various ways in terms of food shortage and access to medical services, the harassment and intimidation by the security forces and the activities of these vigilante groups have continued to aggravate the situation.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending indigenous peoples’ rights. Read more.
Indigenous World
IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for indigenous peoples worldwide. The Indigenous World 2019.
