Indigenous Peoples are crucial partners to build a better post–COVID-19 world

Indigenous Peoples and their unique knowledge are essential to address the COVID-19 outbreak and to build a more sustainable, resilient world as we recover from the pandemic, the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic shows us that we need to rethink the way we interact with nature, as well as how we produce and consume food. The continuous use of unsustainable agricultural practices, and the devastation of forests and wildlife, are part of what has brought us into closer contact with the virus that causes COVID-19,” said IFAD President, Gilbert F. Houngbo. “Indigenous Peoples have long warned of the consequences of exactly these kinds of practices”.

“As we work together to craft a global response to COVID-19, we need to recognise Indigenous Peoples’ actual and potential contributions to sustainable development,” said Houngbo. “Too often they are systematically marginalized, suffer violations of their human rights and are excluded from – and actually harmed by – development processes. This is not acceptable and our approach to dealing with Indigenous Peoples must change.”

There are approximately 476 million Indigenous Peoples in over 90 countries. Despite representing over six percent of the global population, they account for about 18 percent of the world’s poor. They are at disproportionate risk in public health emergencies, becoming even more vulnerable during this global pandemic.

Indigenous Peoples are custodians of about 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity and are also among the worst affected by climate change as a result of their close interaction and reliance upon the climate and natural systems.

IFAD has been working with Indigenous Peoples since the beginning of its operations, considering them a priority group in the fight of rural poverty. IFAD reaches more than 6 million Indigenous Peoples in 31 countries through 63 projects with US$660 million of funding. IFAD convenes the Indigenous Peoples Forum in Rome every two years.

Original source: IFAD
Published on 14 July 2020