A/75/185 out of a love for the people. 57 Similar community-led initiatives have been reported worldwide, including in El Salvador and Morocco, without the need for support from Governments. 58 40. A study about indigenous communalism highlights that “the benefits of group life to health … are unmistakable” and community membership, “if mobilized in health-promoting ways, is linked to reduced community prevalence of disease”. The study also highlighted that: “Having and engaging in relationships, feeling a sense of belonging and participating with one’s community in meaningful ways are all healing activities. If we can somehow place greater emphasis on these communal engagements, not at the expense of but alongside individual health measures, we will harness a poorly tapped source of health.” 59 41. Indigenous traditional medicine and deep knowledge of local biodiversity and pharmacopoeia, including anti-inflammatory or antipyretic plants, coupled with indigenous holistic concepts of health, are important resources for indigenous peoples to maintain their well-being even when they do not have access to national health structures. Their use of traditional medicine is specifically protected by Un ited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and more generally by the Convention on Biological Diversity (art. 8) and the Paris Agreement (art. 7), and should be maintained and supported alongside inclusive and culturally adapted government health services. 42. Indigenous values, wisdom and sources of resilience can also inspire solutions for the wider society: the confinement has already, for instance, kindled among many people around the world a desire to grow and prepare their own food , renew their connection with the natural world and develop stronger levels of solidarity with family and neighbours. The traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples can be relied on to find a balance between human needs and those of the planet, new mechan isms that can guarantee environmental and social justice and new models of food production, distribution and consumption. 60 C. Participation and inclusion in State responses 43. The essential element for an efficient State response to the pandemic for indigenous peoples is to respect the autonomy of indigenous peoples to manage the situation locally while providing them with the information and the financial and material support they identify as necessary. Coordination between indigenous and non-indigenous authorities as equals is essential to the overall effort to respond to the pandemic. 44. Unfortunately, indigenous peoples appear to have been largely left out of the COVID response. While the level of preparedness for the pandemic was low around the globe, indigenous peoples were even less likely to be included in any form of national pandemic contingency plan. Nationwide measures to stop the pandemic were applied to indigenous territories without their free, prior and informed consent and __________________ 57 58 59 60 20-09737 Fiona Cram, “Mahi aroha: COVID-19 and Māori essential work”, submitted to the MAI Journal in June 2020. Submissions by Consejo Coordinador Nacional Indígena Salvadoreño and Moroccan Ama zigh organizations. Carolyn Smith-Morris, “Indigenous communalism: belonging, healthy communities and decolonizing the collective” (Rutgers University Press, 2019). See http://www.fao.org/indigenous-peoples/faq/en. 13/27