According to data from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Brazil has 25% of its national territory occupied by traditional communities. In an estimate, three hundred and five peoples live in our country and, despite this number and their participation in the history of the construction of Brazil, these groups have long historical processes of violations to their rights.
The effects of the pandemic on traditional peoples and the guarantee of human rights was one of the topics of debate on Thursday morning (20th), on the second day of activities of the XIV International Congress on Human Rights. With the presence of panelists from Mexico, United States and Brazil, the theme was surrounded by reflections about the vulnerability experienced by these communities in the face of the corona virus pandemic.
In her presentation, the Mexican sociologist Natividad Gutierrez Chong presented indicators and important data collected about traditional peoples and Afro-Mexicans during the Covid-19 crisis period. The speaker highlighted the importance of staying informed about these researches, "we know very little about the Afro-Mexican population and how the disease actually reached these areas. We need to know, because the lack of information makes the issue of how Covid-19 affected the indigenous populations vague," she explained.
Indigenous peoples today live an even more delicate situation of vulnerability, due to the effects of the pandemic. "One of the things we have learned from the pandemic is that the structural, health and economic shortages have become much more evident," added the sociologist.
The American Mary Paula Arends-Kuenning used her space to put into context the history of Native Americans in her country, and to present research data about these groups during the Covid-19 crisis. One of the points made by the panelist was that - without water treatment, health care facilities, and adequate infrastructure for basic care to prevent the proliferation of the disease - the life expectancy rate of these people has dropped the most.
The Brazilian Alex Pizzio da Silva discussed the situations and scenarios experienced by the babassu nut breakers in the State of Tocantins, in the “Bico do Papagaio” region. In his speech, the lecturer explained that, through his analysis project, the previous conclusions were that the pandemic has increased the vulnerability of these families through the decrease in income, limiting more and more their capacity to overcome adversities.
The second morning panel was mediated by Lia Azevedo, a professor in the Master's Program on Judicial Provision and Human Rights.
