A/HRC/48/54 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. 23. 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. COVID-19 recovery presents an opportunity to reorient curriculums to address local needs in culturally appropriate, collective ways and enhance learning about languages and traditions. States should support multilingual, intercultural education that incorporates sustainable development concepts in COVID-19 national recovery plans.32 24. 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.33 25. There are examples of best practices in this area, as partnerships are formed between schools and cultural centres to provide sustainable education for indigenous peoples during COVID-19 (for example, in Chile, Malaysia and the Philippines). These partnerships have created new teaching centres and new curricula aimed at addressing local needs in culturally appropriate ways (for example, in Finland, New Zealand, Peru, the United States of America, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), as well as in Taiwan Province of China).34 Canada has dedicated funds to helping indigenous early learning and childcare facilities to operate safely during the pandemic; adapting on-reserve community infrastructure to implement public health and safety measures in community buildings; and providing immediate support to indigenous post-secondary institutions.35 26. 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. In the context of 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. 36 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. 37 Indigenous workers are particularly vulnerable to poor working condition due to discrimination and systemic exclusion, high levels of poverty, lack of education and unemployment. In addition, workers’ and employers’ organizations have a key role to play, through social dialogue, in building a social and economic COVID-19 response and recovery that includes indigenous peoples and is respectful of their rights.38 27. Provision of adequate, safe, affordable and sustainable housing is necessary to allow for isolation and quarantining in future pandemics and to strengthen the preparedness of indigenous peoples to respond to health emergencies in the future.39 In devising housing and land-related policies, States should ensure the full recognition of the customary land tenure 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 8 UNESCO, “Reorienting education and training systems to improve the education outcomes of indigenous youth”, 28 February 2021. See Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, “How to promote universal internet access during the COVID-19 pandemic?”. See submission by UNESCO. See https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/10/30/prime-minister-announces-new-supportsindigenous-peoples-and. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs and ILO, The Impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous Communities (2020). Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact and Rights and Resources Initiative “Under the Cover of Covid: New Laws in Asia Favor Business at the Cost of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ Land and Territorial Rights”. ILO policy brief, “COVID-19 and the world of work: a focus on indigenous and tribal peoples” (May 2020), p. 7. See submission by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.