A/75/185 25. The situation for indigenous peoples in cities is not necessarily better. 34 Many displaced indigenous families in urban areas live in poverty and in overcrowded housing 35 and suffer deep racism and structural discrimination that further hinders their access to basic health and social services and protective equipment. Limited access to information and communication 26. Informed discussion among and within communities about potential preventive responses depends on communities receiving accessible, accurate and regularly updated information on the progression of the virus. 27. COVID-19 prevention guidelines and advisories are not always translated into indigenous languages, may not be culturally relevant in content or presentation 36 or may be disseminated only via television, online or in other formats inaccessible to certain indigenous peoples. Information for indigenous persons with visual, hearing or intellectual impairment is also rarely available. 37 Communication platforms, such as local radio, phone calls, texting and social networks, should be used, depending on the medium most accessible by the communities, to convey information in accessible and culturally appropriate formats. In Africa, some communities appear to be completely unaware of the crisis or perceive the virus as an urban issue and have therefore not taken any preventive measures. In communities living outside the range of communication platforms, measures should be taken to facilitate the visit of outreach persons, with all the necessary precautions taken to avoid potential transmission. 38 Civil society has in most cases filled this gap, while its work has at times been obstructed by the police. 39 Indigenous women, who are often less likely to understand official State languages, and illiterate indigenous peoples 40 may depend on secondary sources of information and thus be more open to manipulation, exploitation or misinformation. 28. Another obstacle to access to information is the lack of trust or interest that some indigenous peoples may have in the dominant society’s media, particularly where their indigenous status is not recognized. In such cases, they may be relying more on social media. 41 29. In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 20 indigenous leaders from the Amazonas region created a working group on COVID, researching impacts and risks for their communities and working on tailored outreach activities such as radio announcements. 42 In Mexico, the national institution for indigenous peoples supported the establishment of a national network of traditional healers acting as __________________ 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 10/27 Submission by Red de investigaciones sobre indigenas urbanos. See Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, “Housing circumstances of Indigenous households: tenure and overcrowding”, 16 July 2014, available at https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/ indigenous-australians/housing-circumstances-of-indigenous-households/contents/summary; submission by the Inuit Circumpolar Council; and response to the joint questionnaire by the National Institution for Human Rights of Argentina. Sandra del Pino and Alex Camacho, “Considerations on indigenous peoples, Afro -descendants, and other ethnic groups during the COVID-19 pandemic” (Pan American Health Organization, 2020), p. 9. Available at https://www.paho.org/en/documents/considerations-indigenous-peoplesafro-descendants-and-other-ethnic-groups-during-covid. Submission by National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal. Joint submission by Réseau des associations autochtones pygmées and partners. See communication addressed to Angola, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TmSearch/ TMDocuments. Submissions by Association Dewran and Association des femmes peules autochtones du Tchad. Submissions by Moroccan Amazigh organizations and the National Council of Displaced Persons of Guatemala. See https://watanibasocioambiental.org/equipo-multietnico-visita-radios-en-puerto-ayacuchopara-informar-a-las-comunidades-indigenas-sobre-el-coronavirus. 20-09737