EU Statement – UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: a Rights-based Approach to Health

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I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina*, the potential candidate country Georgia, align themselves with this statement.

Respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples as set out in the UNDRIP and international human rights law is a shared value within the European Union and forms part of our long-standing commitment.

We welcome this year’s theme of the Permanent Forum on “Indigenous Peoples, human health, planetary and territorial health and climate change: a rights-based approach”.

The situation of Indigenous peoples with regard to health is a cause for great concern. Overall, the poor level of health among Indigenous populations includes alarming levels of diabetes and a life expectancy that is significantly lower than non-indigenous counterparts.

High levels of malnutrition can often be linked to poverty. Indigenous peoples are nearly three times more likely to live in extreme poverty compared to other population groups. The levels of maternal and infant mortality are high. Mental health challenges - such as depression, substance abuse and suicide – are significant.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that Indigenous peoples, in particular indigenous women and girls, are disproportionately affected by health crises.

Many of them live in isolated or remote communities, where health-care services are difficult to reach, have limited capacity or simply do not exist. Indigenous peoples, particularly women and girls, are also subject to racial and gender-based discrimination in health-care services, including gender-based violence.  They often also lack access to social services, water and sanitation, to education, and to decent work. Treatment, support and awareness-raising is not always provided in native indigenous languages. All of this also has significant mental health consequences.

The EU calls for more attention to the persons in the most vulnerable situations within the Indigenous communities, including children, older persons, persons with underlying health conditions and persons with disabilities.

We need to redouble global efforts to tackle the discrimination, racism and inequalities facing Indigenous peoples. Universal, equitable and voluntary access to quality health-care, education and social protection services must be ensured. Health systems must be inclusive and take into account the particular needs of Indigenous peoples. As the UNDRIP sets out, Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and practices. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services.

Chair,

The European Union firmly believes that the Indigenous peoples are critical custodians and defenders of biodiversity and sustainable land management while being among the first to face the direct consequences – including health consequences - of climate change.

Indigenous peoples have a unique relationship with their lands and their positive contribution to sustainable land management is well established. Their culture, language, spirituality and politics, economies and survival are connected to their lands.

They globally contribute to the protection of around 80% of biodiversity while disproportionately suffering the effects of toxic and degraded environments. Too often they live under the constant threat due to industrial development, logging and mining. In this context the European Union also notes the recognition of right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right by the UN General Assembly in resolution 76/300.

We cannot emphasise enough the importance of the principle of free, prior and informed consent set out in the UNDRIP in order to respect and to preserve the natural habitat of Indigenous peoples in a sustainable way.

The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must improve socio-economic and health outcomes for indigenous peoples, while respecting the principle of ‘leaving no one behind.’

Climate change and biodiversity loss have substantial negative effects on the effective and full enjoyment of human rights, including the right to health, disproportionally affecting women and girls, and especially those that are already in vulnerable situations including Indigenous peoples.

The respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples set out in the UNDRIP in the management and protection of biodiversity and in climate actions need to move to the top of our priorities.

The European Union is deeply concerned by the alarming number of cases of reprisals against Indigenous and other human rights defenders. We deplore all attacks on Indigenous human rights defenders, of which many were reportedly linked to resource exploitation. We continue to support individual cases of Indigenous human rights defenders related to, inter alia, land tenure rights, labour rights and natural resources.

Such tragic crimes speak to the high relevance of our policies on support to Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders working on land, environment, biodiversity and climate.

Specifically on human rights defenders, EU funding under the European Instrument for Human Rights and Democracy from 2015 to 2022 amounts to EUR 35 million. Another EUR 30 million has been allocated directly to the ProtectDefenders.EU consortium over four and a half years under the new Human Rights and Democracy Thematic Programme.

The programme has assisted over 55,000 human rights defenders and their family members at risk worldwide since 2015. They have received multifaceted support via the Mechanism, in the form of emergency assistance, organisational support, temporary relocation grants, training and capacity development, monitoring, advocacy and outreach. 

The EU’s support to land governance and secure access and tenure of land is equally important. While we continue to foster dialogue and promote respect for responsible land governance, the EU is supporting land governance in about 40 countries with a total budget of 240 MEUR.

We pay tribute to the resilience, ingenuity, and resourcefulness of Indigenous peoples. They are carriers of invaluable Indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage.

The European Union will continue using its leverage, and its policies, legal measures, dialogues, financing instruments and other tools to continue advocating and standing up for the right to health and well-being of Indigenous peoples – everywhere.

I thank you.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.