Inequality has an ethnic face in Latin America

• A report published by the World Bank on indigenous Latin America in the 21st century reveals that the progress made in the region during the first decade has not closed the inequality and poverty gap affecting indigenous communities.

  
  

• They make up 8% of the Latin American population, but today they seem to be anchored to poverty due to structural conditions of inequality: 43% of ethnic households are poor, 24% live in extreme poverty and more than 17% survive on US$2.50 a day.

The first decade of the 21st century had a positive impact on Latin American development. It is estimated that during this period 70 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty; however, the benefits did not extend widely to the region's indigenous peoples. Poverty and socioeconomic exclusion continue to be causes that delay development and political participation, creating a scenario that reduces their autonomy and their ability to participate in the benefits brought by the golden decade.

The report, which is a bid for governments and indigenous populations to know the current state of the situation of the communities, gathered the censuses of 16 countries and household surveys of 9; chosen for presenting robust ethnic populations.

The outlook is discouraging; most of the Millennium Development Goals had no impact on the conditions of indigenous peoples, so the gaps between them and the majority population of Latin America have remained the same or increased since 1990. In fact, their culture has been threatened by the loss of native languages and the pressure of internal and external actors in the territories declared as protected areas: for example, in the Amazon, oil extraction covers 13% of indigenous lands, and the exploration and negotiation of new blocks covers 50%.

Being indigenous in Colombia

Violence and environmental and armed conflicts are a threat to the country's indigenous peoples. Of the 6.4 million victims of the conflict (official figure), 30% belonged to ethnically differentiated populations; in addition, of the 770,000 internally displaced persons, 125,000 are indigenous.

In education, only 55% of children between the ages of 12 and 18 attend school, a fact that demonstrates the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous children (72% of them have access to education). Some impediments for indigenous children not attending school in the country are cost (34%), distance (9%) and the need to work (42%).

Towards a continental intercultural agenda

• The implementation and monitoring of progressive legal frameworks are the key to the defense and protection of indigenous rights.

  
  

• Government actors, Non-Governmental Organizations and civil society must take on the challenge of implementing development policies that reduce social exclusion.

  
  

• Improving the quality of the education system and including interculturalism is fundamental to preserve indigenous traditions and achieve development with identity.

  
  

• Latin America must assume the commitment to reduce the geographical, linguistic and social barriers that hinder indigenous democratic participation.

  
  

• Free, Prior and Informed Consent: fundamental for indigenous communities to participate in the design and implementation of public policies aimed at their lands. Interventions can only be effective when they are appropriate to local customs and visions.