A/HRC/55/49 Indigenous Peoples D. 21. Indigenous Peoples’ connection with seas and rivers reflects the deep intertwining of their livelihoods, food security and culture. Of the over 476 million Indigenous people in the world,21 around 27 million rely on fishing for their livelihoods and food security.22 On average, coastal Indigenous Peoples’ per capita consumption of seafood is 15 times higher than that of non-Indigenous populations.23 Similarly, traditional fish harvests from rivers are pivotal for inland Indigenous Peoples. 22. At stake for Indigenous Peoples facing the commodification and overexploitation of aquatic resources is their inherent right to self-determination.24 As such, Indigenous Peoples are entitled to control and govern their coastal and riparian ecosystems through their own tenure systems. In turn, States must protect and respect Indigenous tenure. 25 23. Additionally, States’ are obliged to fully realize Indigenous Peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent, which is the right of Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold their consent for any action that would affect their lands, territories or rights. This includes a duty to provide Indigenous Peoples with a special and differentiated consultation process. 26 Indigenous women and girls face relatively high risks of violence, especially in the course of advancing their land and territorial rights, and the risks are even higher when they oppose the implementation of development projects undertaken without their free, prior and informed consent. States should promote and support the meaningful, real and informed participation of Indigenous women and girls in political and public life and at all levels, including in decision-making positions.27 E. Gender 24. Gender is a socially constructed category that distributes power among different groups and assigns different value to their work. In some communities, it is culturally unacceptable for women to fish. Globally, much of women’s work contributes to pre- and post-harvest work. In other communities, if women fish it is often economically undervalued and politically discounted. 25. Patriarchal power is further entrenched when gender is treated as strictly binary, excluding fa’afafine, two-spirited and transgender persons and persons of other genders. Unfortunately, statistics disaggregated by gender focus only on women. 26. Women make up half of the overall workforce throughout fishery and aquaculture value chains, occupying critical roles. The vast majority of women are engaged in the informal, lowest paid, least stable and least skilled segments of the workforce. Women are 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 6 See https://www.un.org/en/fight-racism/vulnerable-groups/indigenous-peoples. Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor and others, “A global estimate of seafood consumption by coastal Indigenous peoples”, PLoS ONE, vol. 11, No. 12 (2016). Ibid. A right set out in the Charter of the United Nations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. See also A/HRC/51/24, para. 34. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, arts. 25 and 26; and Voluntary Guidelines, sect. 5. Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador, Judgment, 27 June 2012, paras. 165 and 166; and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, communication No. 276/2003, 4 February 2010, para. 212. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, arts. 7, 8 and 14; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 39 (2022), paras. 22, 45 and 46; and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, arts. 21 (2) and 22. GE.23-26071