STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

More documents

Recommendations

Info

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionthan his non-indigenous compatriot. 22 Obesity, type 2 diabetes and tuberculosis arenow major health concerns amongst indigenous peoples in developed countries.Smoking and substance abuse are more common amongst indigenous peoples,while suicide rates, and incarceration rates are significantly higher. Theseproblems are more pronounced in urban areas, where indigenous peoples aredetached from their communities and cultures, yet never fully embraced as equalmembers of the dominant society. Indigenous peoples are also more likely to sufferfrom violent crime.A recent study, applying UNDP’s Human Development Index 23 to indigenouspeoples in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, showedclearly that indigenous people lag significantly behind the general populationsin these countries. This discrepancy is particularly pronounced in Australia,where Australian non-indigenous HDI scores rose steadily in the 1990s butremained stagnant amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Accordingto the study, the HDI of Australia’s indigenous peoples is similar to that ofCape Verde and El Salvador. Although the gap has narrowed in Canada, NewZealand and the United States, there is still a significant HDI gap in all threecountries between the indigenous and non-indigenous population. 24 In 2001,Australia ranked third; the United States, seventh; Canada, eighth; and NewZealand, twentieth in the HDI rankings, while U.S. American Indian and AlaskaNatives ranked thirtieth; Canadian Aboriginals, thirty-second; New ZealandMaori, seventy-third, and Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, onehundred third. 25 In all four countries, predominantly English-speaking settlercultures have supplanted indigenous peoples to a large extent, leading toenormous indigenous resource losses, “the eventual destruction of indigenouseconomies and a good deal of social organization, precipitous populationdeclines and subjection to tutelary and assimilationist policies antagonistic toindigenous cultures”. 26even in developedcountries, indigenouspeoples consistentlylag behind the nonindigenouspopulationAustralia. These HDI scores are mirrored by other indicators. In Australia, theindigenous unemployment rate was 15.6 per cent in 2006, or just over three timeshigher than the non-indigenous rate, while the median indigenous income wasjust over half of the non-indigenous income. 27 Although some progress has beenmade in Australia in recent years, particularly in education, the gap betweenindigenous and non-indigenous peoples’ quality of life by virtually all standardsis still very significant. Indigenous households are half as likely to own their own22Cooke, Mitrou, Lawrence, Guimod & Dan Beavon (2007).23The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary composite index that measures acountry’s average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: health,education, and a decent standard of living. Health is measured by life expectancy at birth;education is measured by a combination of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary,secondary, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio; and standard of living is measured byGDP per capita (PPP USD).24Cooke, Mitrou, Lawrence, Guimod & Beavon (2007).25Cooke, Mitrou, Lawrence, Guimod & Beavon (2007).26Cornell, Stephen (2006).27Altman, Biddle & Hunter (2008).POVERTY AND WELL-BEING | 23
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionhomes, (34 per cent of indigenous households owned their homes, compared to 69 per cent of the non-indigenouspopulation), and they are more likely to live in overcrowded conditions (in 2006, a quarter of the indigenouspopulation of Australia was reported to be living in overcrowded conditions). The situation is particularly seriousin rural and remote communities where people frequently do not have access to affordable adequate food, waterand housing and have poor access to basic services and infrastructure. In 2001, for example, nearly half of allaboriginal communities (46 per cent) with a population of 50 or more had no connection to a town water supply. 28Indigenous adults in Australia are twice as likely as non-indigenous adults to report their health as fair or poor, aretwice as likely to report high levels of psychological stress, and are twice as likely to be hospitalized. Ultimately,indigenous Australians’ life expectancy is around 20 years lower than non-indigenous life expectancy.Canada. Canada recognizes that key socio-economic indicators for Aboriginal people are unacceptably lowerthan for non-Aboriginal Canadians. Aboriginal peoples’ living standards have improved in the past 50 years, butthey do not come close to those of non-Aboriginal people. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP)reports that following: Life expectancy is lower and illness is more common. In 2000, “life expectancy at birth for the registeredIndian population was estimated at 68.9 years for males and 76.6 years for females. This reflects differencesof 8.1 years and 5.5 years respectively, from the 2001 Canadian population’s life expectancies”. Moreover,the rate of premature mortality (when a person dies before the age of 75 due to suicide or unintentionalinjury) is almost four-and-a-half times higher. 29 Fewer children graduate from high school, and far fewer go on to colleges and universities. Manyindigenous communities have poor access to schools. About 70 per cent of First Nations students onreservewill never complete high school. Graduation rates for the on-reserve population range from 28.9per cent to 32.1 per cent annually. Just about 27 per cent of the First Nations population between 15 and44 years of age hold a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree, compared with 46 per cent of theCanadian population within the same age group. 30 Aboriginal people have poorer access to jobs. In 2005, for example, the unemployment rate of Canada’swestern provinces of Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan was as high as 13.6 percent among indigenous people, but only 5.3 per cent among the non-indigenous population. 31 Many more spend time in jails and prisons. Aboriginals make up about 19 per cent of federal prisoners,whilst they are 4.4 per cent of the total population. Between 1997 and 2000, they were 10 times morelikely to be accused of homicide than non-aboriginal people. The rate of indigenous in Canadianprisons climbed 22 per cent between 1996 and 2004, while the general prison population dropped 12per cent. 32The restrictions put on Aboriginal peoples’ ability to protect, meaningfully benefit from and freely dispose of theirland and resources constitute the main obstacle to real economic development among First Nations, Métis andInuit. As a result of land loss and severe limitations set by the various levels of government on the free use ofand continuing benefit from their natural resources, Aboriginal people have become increasingly dependent on28Bolstridge, Jill A. (2008).29Health Canada (2007)30Assembly of First Nations (2009).31Statistics Canada (2005)32Gorelick (2007)24 | CHAPTER I
Page 1 and 2: EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010Not
Page 3 and 4: EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STAT
Page 33: EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STAT
Page 39 and 40: Bolivia Ecuador Guatemala Mexico Pe
Page 85 and 86:
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STAT
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
Page 200 and 201:
Page 202 and 203:
Page 204 and 205:
Page 206 and 207:
Page 208 and 209:
Page 210 and 211:
Page 212 and 213:
Page 214 and 215:
Page 216 and 217:
Page 218 and 219:
Page 220 and 221:
Page 222 and 223:
Page 224 and 225:
Page 226 and 227:
Page 228 and 229:
Page 230 and 231:
Page 232 and 233:
Page 234 and 235:
Page 236 and 237:
Page 238 and 239:
Page 240 and 241:
Page 242 and 243:
Page 244 and 245:
Page 246 and 247:
Page 248 and 249:
Page 250:
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010Not
show all

STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?