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Improving tsunami readiness around the South China Sea

The South China Sea region and its neighbouring basins including the Sulu and Celebes seas comprise one of the worlds most vulnerable areas to earthquakes and tsunamis owing to seismic activity in the Manila Cotabato and Negros and Sulawesi trenches

January 13, 2022

Indigenous Peoples and COVID-19: The view from Mexico

COVID19 has had a strong impact in Mexico UNESCOs office in Mexico City has been engaging with indigenous peoples to support targeted actions to respond to the crisis and their particular needs Indigenous Peoples in Mexico face particular vulnerabilities in the context of COVID19 and the UNESCO Office in Mexico has carried out actions to address this in the framework of the COVID19 response and recovery UNESCO in Mexico has been invited to lead pillar 5 Social cohesion and community resilience of the socioeconomic response to COVID19 from the United Nations System in Mexico with special attention to the peoples indigenous youth and women The COVID19 pandemic is having drastic social and economic consequences for indigenous peoples and for everyone on the path to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs According to the 2015 Intercensus survey the indigenous population accounts for 12 250 947 people and constitutes 101 of the total national population Historically this population group has lived in conditions of social and economic precarity indicated by the fact that 695 of the indigenous population 84 million people lives in poverty situation and 279 in extreme poverty 34 million people as stated by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy Official data from the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples INPI to 27 July 2020 reported 4140 positive cases of COVID19 and 719 casualties among indigenous language speakers Meanwhile the pandemic is continuing to evolve in the Mexican territory The momentum of the pandemic and the prior inequalities already faced by indigenous people in Mexico are not favorable for the wellbeing of indigenous peoples in the face of the pandemic Among the disadvantages experienced by indigenous peoples access to water stands out as critical in the context of the current health crisis Of the rural population in Mexico 21 of those who speak an indigenous language lack water due to access problems while among those who do not speak an indigenous language the lack of service is 168

Los Pinos Declaration [Chapoltepek] lays foundations for global planning for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages

A significant step has been taken with the publishing of the Los Pinos Declaration Chapoltepek Making a Decade of Action for Indigenous Languages The Declaration is the Outcome Document of the highlevel closing event of the International Year of Indigenous Languages IYIL2019 and is now available online in English French and Spanish

In Mexico, UNESCO and the international community will discuss the steps towards the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022 – 2032

February 12, 2020

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Yalitza Aparicio, meets with Mexico’s Field Office members

January 29, 2020

Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference: "Saving lives, reducing losses"