A/HRC/48/74 may not receive regular vaccination doses, as is the case for some from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.59 The Russian Federation has taken measures to support health during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, including the provision of air ambulances and the introduction of telemedicine. One key element for ensuring equal and appropriate access to health care is ensuring, as Ecuador has done, that there are indigenous staff members in health-care systems. 77. As the Expert Mechanism has recently produced a report focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on indigenous peoples, the present study does not report on that issue. However, it reiterates the disproportionate impact of the disease and containment measures on the health of indigenous peoples, including children. COVID-19 has compounded already existing challenges to accessing adequate health care and potable water, and led to the diversion of resources from other health needs. It has since been reported that indigenous children with disabilities suffered when rehabilitation abruptly stopped due to the pandemic. Mental health 78. While there is a lack of comprehensive disaggregated data, the information available indicates that indigenous children are vulnerable to substance abuse and depression and at greater risk of suicide than non-indigenous children. Removal from their community is detrimental to their mental health, causing a sense of detachment, intergenerational trauma and difficult reintegration. 79. American Indian and Alaskan native children and youth reported higher depression rates than any other ethnic group in the United States. The number of Greenlanders under the age of 20 committing suicide has increased in recent years.60 Studies also show Maori youth suicide rates rising, with challenging underlying issues, including discrimination, poverty and lack of access to health care.61 Ecuador has begun suicide intervention programmes in indigenous communities and has trained 53 indigenous leaders and medical professionals in the traditional territories of the Waorani people, who have a high suicide rate.62 Right to a healthy environment 80. Article 24 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child makes specific reference to clean drinking water and the risks of environmental pollution, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted article 6 (2), guaranteeing the survival and development of the child to the maximum extent, as including climate change and environmental pollution. The Declaration includes the rights of indigenous peoples to conservation and protection of the environment (article 29) in addition to including conservation of vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals in the right to traditional medicines (article 24). 81. Children’s rights are indivisible and interdependent and many, such as the rights to health and a healthy environment, are critical to the enjoyment of all other rights. Indigenous children and nature are interconnected and the protection of their traditional territories is integral to their ability to pass on their cultural heritage. 63 Indigenous peoples are disproportionately impacted by climate change and the rights of the children, who will remain on the planet longer than adults, will be increasingly affected as the impacts worsen, as is already the case in areas such as the Pacific islands.64 82. Guatemala has recognized the increased vulnerability of indigenous children to climate change, including as regards their food security and possible displacement, and has taken a series of measures to educate the public. They include programmes for children and 59 60 61 62 63 64 Intervention by Ms. Murungi and submission by Innovation pour la défense et la protection des ressources naturelles. Submissions by the Human Rights Council of Greenland and the Inuit Circumpolar Council. Submission by Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law. Submission by Ecuador. Submission to the fourteenth session of the Expert Mechanism by the Public Defender of Ecuador. Submission by member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Clarence Nelson. 15