Background

COVID-19 does not affect all populations equally. From the Polar Regions to the tropics, Indigenous Peoples (IPs) are at particular high risk, exacerbated by climate risks and socio-economic stresses. National responses to the pandemic are compounding these challenges, with COVID-19 recovery risking further marginalizing IPs. Little is known, however, about how IPs are experiencing and responding to COVID-19, or what their needs are for recovery.

The project

This project is working with IPs and decision-makers to document the impacts COVID-19 is having on communities and how people are responding, with a specific focus on food systems. The project is collaborating with 23 Indigenous groups in 12 countries, working in low, middle, and high-income nations, and has a strong focus on the documenting the stories, lived experience, and understandings of COVID-19 and the impacts it is having.

COVID Observatories have been established in each region, and are composed of:

• Community observers who are documenting their experiences, stories, and observations on COVID-19 in reflective diaries over a 12 month period.

• Policy observers who are regularly documenting how the government and relevant authorities are responding to COVID-19, and if/how Indigenous peoples are being integrated and considered in such actions.

• Researcher observers who are documenting and examine the official COVID-19 response and recovery planning within the study regions and globally.