5- Children belonging to a minority or indigenous group SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES According to the 2007 census, indigenous people represent 1.2% of the total population or 43,378 persons with 40.7% of children below 15 years. It is likely that the census underestimated the demographic weight of this component of the national population. Living traditionally from hunting and harvesting of forest products, this population have suffered deterioration in their living and their economic forestry under the devastating impact of deforestation, forest and mining exploitation as well as forest clearing for agricultural purposes; thus pushing them towards settlement. They settled gradually in encampments on the outskirts of Bantu villages where they are subject to multiple discrimination, rights deprivation, social exclusion and economic exploitation. Those who try to make a living as agricultural labourer are either not paid or under paid or exploited. Those who manage to be employed in the agricultural and forestry projects are systematically underpaid or overexploited. Finally, those who bring their products for sale or batter also experience underpayment or extortion on the grounds that they are only "subhuman" or "property" of their Bantu masters. Victims of discrimination and injustice, living in a real deprivation and in an unhealthy environment, without education, indigenous people are exposed to multiple health and educational deprivation related to social protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms. 1 In terms of health: This is first all, a collective and national risk of very little access to care and medicines due to: • High cost of health care and medicine, which are for 70% of indigenous youth the main reason for not attending health centres; • The distance due to the lack of health centre in or near the camps; making it difficult for women and sick children to go there; • Discrimination against all indigenous people even among health workers. An anthropologist (Jerome Lewis) working in the Sangha and Likouala estimated a “staggering” morbidity rate of children aged below 5 years at 27% - i.e. 1 child out of 4. In addition, he estimated at 80 % the rate of indigenous people of northern Congo deprived of care. The very low availability and distance to health centres play a key role in this. In terms of women’s health, among other indicators of poor access to care learned from the CAP of Indigenous People Survey (February 2007), it can be noted: • ANC rates (antenatal consultations) are too low: 16% of women and 21% of teenage girls • ¾ of women and pregnant teenage girls who give birth at home and only 22% of girls and 25.8% of women, in maternities; • Continued use of traditional medicine • Rates of maternal and infant mortality very high; 125