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COVID-19 Indigenous Health Partnership

COVID-19 Indigenous Health Partnership

Led by Indigenous youth, the COVID-19 Indigenous Health Partnership brings together medical students, physicians, allied health professionals, and human rights experts to partner with Indigenous Peoples and communities on their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose

  • Partner with 7 Indigenous Nations, one from each UN Indigenous world region.
  • Organizing translation of culturally relevant, medically verified COVID19 documents and videos into 100+ Indigenous languages.
  • Offering culturally aware consultation/technical guidance to Indigenous community leaders on their COVID19 action plans.
  • Publishing articles with the UN on what our Indigenous community partners are facing during the pandemic and how they are responding for advocacy support.
  • Hosting webinars with UNICEF, the UN Youth Envoy, and UN IFAD focused on Indigenous youth mental health and food security during the pandemic.
  • Bringing together Indigenous chef’s from around the world to promote nutrition inspired by traditional foods and recipes.
  • Build long-term relationships between Indigenous communities and Harvard Medical School.

Partners

UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus (GIYC), Harvard Medical School COVID-19 Student Response Team, UN Youth Envoy, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO).

Meet the Teams

Coordination Team:

Project Lead: Victor A. Lopez-Carmen

Indigenous Team Leaders: Jessica Vega, Carson Kiburo

HMS Team Leaders: Brendan Eappen, Ziwei Chen, Carson Moss, Michelle Sunjoo Lee

COVID-19 Animations Team Lead: Emily Kragel

Regional Teams:

Africa

Indigenous Youth Leaders: Carson Kiburo (Kenya), Gift Parseen (Kenya), Yves Minani (Burundi)

Medical/Health Professional Students: Cameron Comrie, Kevin Salinas, Logan Beyer

Indigenous Partner Nation and Community Leader: Emily Lerosion, Samburu Indigenous Peoples (Northern Kenya)

The Pacific

Indigenous Youth Leaders: Ivan Ingram (Australia), Marise Stuart (New Zealand), Jack Collard (Australia)

Medical/Health Professional Students: Senan Ebrahim, Abigail Baldwin, Kate Higgins

Indigenous Partner Nation and Community Leader: Bernice Hookey, Waanyi Peoples of the Lower Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland, Australia

North America

Indigenous Youth Leaders: Alexis Manzano (USA), Carrington Christmas (Canada), Shanese Steele (Canada), Sam Mukwa (Canada), James Walkingstick (USA), Victoria Marchland (Canada)

Medical/Health Professional Students: Carson Moss, Kate Brettin, Margaret Irwin, Shelbie Shelders, Katie Kester, Sukhmeet Sachal, Erica DiFranco, Thilaxcy Yohathasan, Sterling Stutz, Katie Kester, Sterling Stutz

Indigenous Partner Nation and Community Leader: Janene Yazzie, Navajo Nation, New Mexico, USA

Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia

Indigenous Youth Leaders: Elvir Sagirman (Ukraine), Natalia Vaskova (Russia)

Medical/Health Professional Students: Jonah Blumenthal, Allison Fialkowski

Indigenous Partner Nation and Community Leader: Marina Ycha, Ulchi Indigenous Peoples of Russia

Central/South America and the Caribbean

Indigenous Youth Leaders: Jessica Vega (Mexico), Taily Terena (Brazil), Antonia Benito (Guatemala)

Medical/Health Professional Students: Michelle Lee, Casey Orozco-Poore, Gabriella Herrera, Vanessa Beltran

Indigenous Partner Nation and Community Leader: Itoewaki Jupta, Wayana Peoples of the Amazon, Suriname

Asia

Indigenous Youth Leaders: Anish Shrestha (Nepal), Czarriane Aisah (Philippines)

Medical/Health Professional Students: Jason Li, Caroline Lee, Ziwei Chen, Jennie Kim, Julie Kim

Indigenous Partner Nation and Community Leader: Gabriel Tripura, Chittagong Hill Tracts Indigenous Peoples, Bangladesh

The Arctic

Indigenous Youth Leaders: Seqi Poulsen (Greenland)

Medical/Health Professional Students: Maddy Espo, Brendan Eappen, Kira Pavagadhi, Victor Lopez-Carmen

Campaign Advisers

  • Dr. Mariam Wallet (Indigenous Physician, former Chair of the UNPFII)
  • Dr. Matt Tobey (Physician, Rural/Native Health Specialist)
  • Ghazali Ohorella (Lawyer, Indigenous rights expert)
  • Dr. Tom Sequist (Indigenous Physician and Chief Quality Officer at Partners HealthCare)
  • Dr. Monie Carillo (Physician, Indian Health Services)
  • Dr. Dennis Norman (Indigenous Physician, Native mental health specialist)
  • Dr. Adal Rhoubeid (Indigenous Physician, Politician in Niger)
  • Dr. Marise Stuart (Indigenous physician)
  • Amanda Myran (Indigenous Registered Nurse)
  • Dr. Kathe Miller (Physician)
  • Dr. Sudha Balakrishnan (Physician, UN Health Specialist)
  • Dr. Serena Chao (Physician)
  • Dr. Joe Gone (Indigenous Psychologist)
  • Dr. Sara Selig (Physician)

Get involved

For health profession students: If you would like to get involved please fill out this form

For Indigenous Peoples and Communities: If we can partner with your community or Indigenous initiative, please fill out this form

Donate: The Navajo Nation currently has more COVID-19 cases than 13 U.S. States combined. They are in dire need of equipment and funds for food and supplies. Donate here

Contact

If you have questions or input, please email Victor Lopez-Carmen