A/HRC/27/66 severe reduction in its corn yields and bean harvests due to a lack of water for irrigation, with considerable impact on livelihoods.22 37. The Punan indigenous peoples, who live in hunter-gatherer communities in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, have for generations followed a lunar calendar for planning their agricultural, forestry, shifting cultivation and hunting activities. With changes in the timing of migration and fruiting, their dependence on traditional knowledge for their survival has become less reliable.23 4. Resource extraction 38. Indigenous peoples have lived on their lands and territories for centuries yet have often been denied their rightful ownership and their right to self-determination. While the revenues from natural resource development are filtered out of regions where indigenous peoples live, the negative consequences, including increased disaster risk, stay behind.24 39. As is stated in the Expert Mechanism’s “Follow-up report on indigenous peoples and the right to participate in decision-making, with a focus on extractive industries” (A/HRC/21/55, para. 15): “Globally, a fundamental concern of indigenous peoples regarding extractive industry development, in addition to that of the dispossession of their lands, territories and resources, has been the ensuing unsustainable development and environmental degradation. Such patterns contrast with indigenous peoples’ traditional models of development and are rooted in a lack of recognition of indigenous peoples’ international human rights.” 40. The link between unsustainable development practices and disaster risk reduction has been clearly made by the Secretary-General in his report to the General Assembly entitled “Implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction”, which states that “development cannot be sustainable if the disaster risk reduction approach is not fully integrated into development planning and investments”, and that “development investment that does not consider disaster risk will lead to the accumulation of more risk” (A/68/320, para. 69). 5. Health risks 41. Health is a human right and every country in the world is now party to at least one human rights treaty that addresses health-related rights. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, for instance, affirms the right “to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.” Article 24 (2) of the Declaration states that indigenous individuals have an equal right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health and calls on States to take the necessary steps for the progressive realization of this right. Yet indigenous peoples often suffer from exclusion, discrimination and lack of access to health services, particularly if they live in remote areas where governments do not invest in basic social services. For example, the highest inequalities in health and mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean can be seen among indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups.25 Some indigenous peoples, tribes and nations 22 23 24 25 UNISDR, “Indigenous people threatened by Mexico’s worst drought in 70 years”, 14 August 2012. Available from www.unisdr.org/archive/28019 (accessed 4 August 2014). Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change Adaptation in Asia (2012), p. 5. Corinne Lennox, Natural resource development and the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples. State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012. Minority Rights Group International. Pan American Health Organization, Strategic Plan 2013–2018: Disaster Risk Reduction and Response. Available from http://www.paho.org/disasters/index.php?option=com_docman&task =doc_download&gid=2161 (accessed 4 August 2014). 11

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