Indigenous Peoples propose safety protocol to tackle COVID-19 in Peruvian Amazon

As the Peruvian government fails to propose safety protocols in Indigenous territories more than two months after the COVID-19 crisis began, indigenous peoples’ organisations have stepped up to issue their own recommendations to decision-makers.

Indigenous organisations in Peru have published guidelines to assist native communities in managing the COVID-19 health crisis, and to inform the protocols and health plans that the Peruvian government is yet to produce at different levels of governance. The guideline document, titled "Safety Protocol in Our Native Communities: A Guide for Native Communities in the San Martín Region for the Internal Management of COVID-19" was published on 13 May by the Coordinating Body for the Development and Defence of Indigenous Peoples of the San Martín region (CODEPISAM), which is a member of Peru’s national indigenous organisation AIDESEP.

This protocol takes into account the context of the communities, the historical vulnerability of Amazonian indigenous peoples to disease, and the need for easily applicable actions with an intercultural approach. It covers the following points:

• Information about COVID-19 prevention;
• Communication channels for communities to report and inform one another on COVID-19;
• Health measures and conditions for entry and exit to communities with closed territories;
• Steps to take in the case of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infections in communal territories; and
• The transfer of infected individuals, and burials within communities.

These recommendations are designed for use in Indigenous communities which still lack specific health protocols. To date there have been 505 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the San Martín region alone.

Moreover, the government itself acted as a disease vector as it failed to adequately coordinate policies and aid across public sector entities and with indigenous organisations.

The protocol was promoted by the Ethnic Council of the Kichwa Peoples of the Amazon (CEPKA), and underwent a validation process by the Federation of Kichwa Indigenous Peoples of Bajo Huallaga San Martín (FEPIKBHSAM) and the Federation of Kechwa Chazuta Indigenous Peoples (FEPIKECHA). These three organisations are Forest Peoples Programme’s local partners in the San Martín region. Other partner institutions such as IDL and CAAAP, as well as medical and social specialists, also participated in formulating the guidelines.

In accordance with the Legislative Decree N° 1489 on actions for the protection of Indigenous Peoples in the context of COVID-19, specific recommendations – such as those contained in the protocol of the Indigenous organisations of San Martín – should serve as a reference for any public medical or welfare actions aiming to safeguard the lives of indigenous populations from COVID-19.