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95. The Permanent Forum also recommends that WHO and the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) engage in an intersessional round table on the pandemic
with Forum members to ensure that ongoing mitigation planning and efforts are
uniquely adapted to the needs of indigenous peoples, including by applying
intercultural approaches to health, such as those applied by PAHO in the Americas.
96. The Permanent Forum recognizes the need to address the emergence of the
mental health consequences of the pandemic. The consequences are being felt in all
populations, but most acutely in populations that have traditionally been marginalized.
The Forum calls for investments and preparations for mental and behavioural health
interventions that are culturally adapted. Traditional medicines and practices can play
a key role in the health of indigenous communities and individuals by encompassing
a variety of dimensions, including the spiritual. The Forum calls on WHO, PAHO,
States Members of the United Nations and indigenous peoples to work together to
provide pathways for promoting mental health.
97. The Permanent Forum recommends that WHO and FAO, together with the
Inter-agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues, promote dialogue forums
at the national and regional levels between government ministries and indigenous
peoples to establish culturally relevant strategies for addressing the epidemiological
risks and the food and environmental crises resulting from the pandemic, as well as
for addressing access to justice and the safeguarding of indigenous peoples’ territorial
control.
98. Throughout history, indigenous peoples have moved from place to place to find
water, pastureland for their animals, and game; to trade goods from different
ecological zones; and even to seek job opportunities in urban areas. Mobility
restrictions both within and across State borders have affected indigenous peoples
adversely, with the impact on pastoralist groups particularly severe in the context of
their ability to access water and food. The Perman ent Forum recommends that States
implement specific measures to address the mobility needs of indigenous peoples,
including through cooperation with neighbouring States, and that such efforts be
made with the full free, prior and informed consent of the in digenous peoples affected.
99. The Permanent Forum welcomes the establishment of the Network of the Centers
of Distinction on Indigenous and Local Knowledge under the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The Net work,
which comprises indigenous leaders, experts, professionals and advocates of
indigenous and local knowledge, serves to promote the integrity and value of the
knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities in science and policy. In
addition, the Forum notes the aspects relevant to indigenous peoples that the Platform
has rolled out until 2030 in its work programme and, in that regard, seeks to further
its collaboration with the Platform in its own future work. The Forum invites the
Platform and the Network to continue to inform the Forum about the progress of their
work, including at the Forum’s twenty-first session.
100. The Permanent Forum welcomes the entry into force of the Regional Agreement
on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters
in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement) on 22 April 2021 and urges
those countries that have not yet signed and ratified the Agreement to do so at the
earliest opportunity. The Forum also urges those countries that have ratified the
Escazú Agreement to ensure its implementation.
101. During the pandemic, indigenous peoples have been seriously affected by a lack of
access to energy, health-care establishments, education centres, infrastructure that
supplies clean water, and communication services and information technologies.
Governments have made a range of efforts to support economic activity in their
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