The UN noted the efforts of the Russian Federation to protect indigenous peoples during the pandemic

A number of countries around the world are working to protect indigenous populations in remote areas from the pandemic of coronavirus infection, and this cannot but please. This was announced today, June 30, in Geneva at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. It noted that members of racial and ethnic minorities, as well as indigenous peoples, were at greater risk of dying from COVID-19 and were most affected by its socio-economic consequences. See also: The UN assessed Russia's preparedness for the pandemic COVID-19 Indigenous peoples are also especially vulnerable. Inadequate access to health care and other key institutions exacerbates their risk from the pandemic, while the lack of disaggregated data hinders targeted responses to their needs. It is time to put an end to this neglect, the UN High Commissioner emphasized. It noted that pandemic response plans in Australia and Costa Rica included specific efforts to protect the health of indigenous peoples, while Panama was implementing a long-term project to improve basic services and infrastructure, including health. The Russian Federation reported that it was using remote technologies to improve health care for indigenous nomadic populations in pandemic conditions, Bachelet added. Bachelet called on the world community to pay special attention to the protection of the most vulnerable members of society in the context of the pandemic, as well as to address the problem of deep inequality. According to the news agency, earlier the UN estimated the level of readiness of Russia for the pandemic of coronavirus infection. According to this indicator, the Russian Federation was in 49th place out of 189 countries, ahead of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Georgia. The last place in the table is occupied by Niger.