A/HRC/51/28 valuable contributions of indigenous peoples to protecting the environment from climate change continue to be denied. 64. Furthermore, indigenous women’s security of land tenure may be threatened by State implementation of climate change mitigation projects. Programmes such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) can restrict access to forests or result in the dispossession and relocation of indigenous peoples from their lands. Moreover, international and domestic environmental programmes often exclude indigenous women from the distribution of environmental benefits. 65. Scientific and technical knowledge plays an increasingly pivotal role in the adaptation and mitigation of climate change; however there is little protection for indigenous knowledge systems within national legal frameworks. Indigenous women in Asia are the primary agricultural producers in their communities but changing climate patterns causing droughts, floods and hurricanes disrupt agricultural production and force people, most often women, to find work in urban areas. There they face stigma, discrimination and labour exploitation. 57 66. The Kuna people were relocated from their islands to the mainland of Panama, forced to move because of rising sea levels, flooding, and overpopulation. Changes in climate have altered indigenous food practices, and knowledge of land use passed down by women through generations, threatening the cultivation of native seeds, the preservation of sacred aquifers and naturally anti-seismic architecture. B. Gender and structural racial discrimination 67. Societal and structural inequality has been attributed to structural racial discrimination and puts the transmission of indigenous women’s knowledge at risk. 58 Colonization broke down community structures and its residual effects continue to be felt by indigenous women and girls today. Colonial interference with indigenous governance and social structures has created structural discrimination and contributed to the erosion of indigenous women’s community roles.59 Stereotypes of indigenous women exist, such as misconceptions that their scientific knowledge of medicinal plants is harmful to the environment or constitutes witchcraft.60 Discrimination also occurs within indigenous communities. In some regions, where women are relegated and confined to the private domain and excluded from social, civil and political events, they are restricted in their ability to disseminate knowledge. This is particularly challenging when knowledge is unwritten and transmitted orally. Discrimination in the educational system has led to an alarming loss of indigenous languages, and with it a rich oral tradition of scientific knowledge. 68. Multiple intersecting forms of discrimination create barriers to women’s development and use of their scientific knowledge, including access to lands and resources; educational and employment opportunities; health care; political participation in national and local governance, including environmental planning; labour protections; infrastructure and social services; and legal systems. Barriers to political participation for women include the failure to provide materials in indigenous languages, means of transportation and security concerns.61 Despite progress in this area, indigenous women continue to suffer discrimination that too often leads to their disenfranchisement and underrepresentation in public life. C. Lack of disaggregated data 69. Poor data collection renders indigenous women virtually invisible in official statistics, constraining efforts to advance gender and ethnic equality in public policies. The lack of disaggregated data on indigenous women hampers research and impedes the design of policies and programmes that address the overlapping and interdependent forms of 57 58 59 60 61 14 See A/76/202/Rev.1. Submission by the Government of Guatemala, p. 5. See A/HRC/30/41 and E/C.19/2009/8. See https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/EGM12_Lama.pdf. See E/C.19/2013/10.