From April 20 to May 1, 2026, the United Nations Headquarters in New York hosted the 25th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), bringing together Indigenous leaders, Member States, UN agencies, and civil society organizations.
This year’s session highlighted the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples. A central message emerged: Indigenous health cannot be separated from land, culture, spirituality, traditional knowledge, food systems, and self-determination.
VIVAT International contributed to the Forum by organizing and co-sponsoring events that brought Indigenous voices from the Amazon, Panama, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and West Papua into dialogue with one another and the international community.
Health, Land, and Indigenous Rights
The Forum opened with a traditional welcome by Tadodaho Sid Hill, Traditional Chief of the Onondaga Nation. Through the Thanksgiving Address, he expressed gratitude to Mother Earth, the waters, plants, animals, and all creation. His message emphasized that human well-being depends on right relationships with the earth and one another.
Throughout the Forum, speakers highlighted health inequalities experienced by Indigenous Peoples, including shorter life expectancy, chronic illness, and discrimination within health systems. They emphasized that environmental destruction, conflict, and displacement are not only territorial or political concerns but direct threats to health.
Participants called for stronger implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), particularly the protection of land rights, traditional medicines and healing practices, and meaningful participation in decisions affecting Indigenous communities.
Building Solidarity Through Global Dialogue
On April 24, VIVAT International, in collaboration with the Mining Working Group and through Paul Rahmat and Daniel LeBlanc, convened a Global Dialogue on Indigenous Peoples.
The gathering brought together Indigenous delegates from Brazil, Peru, Chile, Panama, West Papua, and the DRC. Participants shared their cultures, experiences of environmental stewardship, challenges, and achievements. Despite their different contexts, they identified common concerns, including land grabbing, extractive industries, environmental destruction, and exclusion from decisions concerning their territories.
The dialogue strengthened solidarity among Indigenous communities across continents. VIVAT also provided translation equipment through the Justice Coalition of Religious (JCoR) and interpretation services to facilitate participation across languages.
Health and Dignity in the “Lungs of Earth”
Also on April 24, VIVAT, through Paul Rahmat and in collaboration with the NGO Committee for Dignity, co-organized the parallel event “Health, Well-being, and the Dignity of Indigenous Peoples in the ‘Lungs of Earth’ Countries,” with logistical support from Marides Santos, SSpS.
Focusing on the Amazon, the DRC, and West Papua, the event examined how deforestation, mining, land grabbing, and armed conflict affect Indigenous health and dignity.
Keynote speaker Brian Keane described these tropical forests as vital “lungs” and “water towers” of the planet. Their destruction threatens Indigenous communities as well as global ecological health. Mining and deforestation can contaminate rivers, disrupt food systems, increase disease risks, and undermine traditional livelihoods.
Testimonies made these realities personal. De la Costa Miranda, an Indigenous woman from the Nawa community in the Amazon, described the forest as the community’s “pharmacy and market,” providing medicine, food, identity, and cultural life.
From the DRC, Dr. Evelyn Kali connected current displacement and resource extraction to a history of colonial exploitation, racism, and ecosystem destruction. She emphasized that improving health requires confronting the structural causes of dispossession and discrimination.
Octavius, from West Papua, described the forest as “mother” and “home.” He highlighted how militarization, displacement, and environmental destruction cause trauma, insecurity, and loss of livelihoods. Participants also viewed the trailer for Pig Feast, a documentary highlighting the experiences and struggles of Indigenous Papuans.
Advocating for West Papua
VIVAT also co-sponsored the April 24 parallel event “Human Rights in Indonesia, Indigenous Papuans, and National Strategic Projects,” organized by Franciscans International in collaboration with the Mining Working Group.
The event examined the impacts of large-scale development projects on Indigenous Papuans, including threats to customary lands, livelihoods, human rights, and environmental sustainability. VIVAT again supported interpretation and provided translation equipment through JCoR.
This advocacy extended beyond the Forum. On April 23, Paul Rahmat accompanied Indigenous Papuan delegates to the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations. They met with Monsignor Robert Murphy, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, to discuss the situation of Indigenous Peoples in West Papua and related human rights concerns.
From Dialogue to Action
Across the Forum and VIVAT-supported events, several priorities emerged: implement UNDRIP in practice; protect Indigenous territories as essential to health; support Indigenous-led initiatives and traditional knowledge; hold governments and corporations accountable for harmful activities; and ensure meaningful Indigenous participation in decision-making.
Indigenous Peoples must be recognized not merely as stakeholders, but as rights-holders and knowledge-holders whose leadership is essential in addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and social injustice.
Our Health Is in Our Lands
The voices heard at UNPFII carried a consistent message: protecting Indigenous lands means protecting health, dignity, culture, and life.
VIVAT International’s engagement helped create spaces where Indigenous voices could meet, strengthen solidarity, and reach international decision-makers. When Indigenous territories are protected, communities can sustain their medicines, food systems, cultures, spirituality, and relationships with ancestral lands.
In defending Indigenous Peoples and their territories, we also help safeguard the health and future of our shared planet.
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