Inclusive social development: The next generation of policies for overcoming poverty and reducing inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Inclusive social development: the next generation of policies for overcoming poverty...
The possibility of women securing economic independence and autonomy depends essentially on their opportunity
to access decent work and on the narrowing of the gender gaps that characterize the labour market in terms of
participation, unemployment and occupation rates, levels of income and access to retirement plans and pensions,
as well as on other indicators, which will be analysed in later sections of this chapter.
2. Ethnic and racial inequalities: indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants
Instruments of international law —such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (1965) and International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal
Peoples (1989)— recognize the specific nature of the rights of indigenous peoples as collective rights and promote and
safeguard the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants. The World
Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa,
in 2001, was a highly significant moment for the renewal and promotion of the international commitment in this area.
Of particular relevance in the international recognition of indigenous rights was the United Nations General
Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. Among its many important
steps forward, this instrument recognizes those peoples’ right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals,
of all human rights and fundamental freedoms; to be free from any kind of discrimination; to free determination,
with which they can freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural
development; to autonomy or self-government in matters related to their internal and local affairs; and to maintain
and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions (United Nations, 2007). In
Latin America this has been a part of a broader and more intense process of recognizing indigenous peoples and
their rights in various constitutions, which establish those States’ multicultural or plurinational composition and
identify indigenous peoples as collective subjects. This has given rise to amendments of the law in 15 Latin American
countries. 8 Mention should be made of the constitutional recognition that certain countries have extended to those
rights and to the cultures and languages found within their national borders, which in some countries has extended
beyond than constitutional amendments (Bello and Rangel, 2002; Gargarella and Courtis, 2011; Stavenhagen, 2011)
or led to the criminalization of racism.
In turn, ILO Convention 169 has played a leading role by offering a broad, comprehensive and coherent
programmatic and regulatory platform for the recognition of indigenous rights. Of the 22 countries in the world that
have ratified it, 15 are from Latin America.
The political recognition and enhanced profile of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants has a positive
correlation in statistical visibility. As of the year 2000, increasing number of countries in the region began to
identify those population groups in their censuses and household surveys. This is the result of the mobilization of
their organizations and their impact at the national and regional levels, and of the need to identify them and their
socioeconomic situation in order to tackle the pronounced shortfalls that exist in the enforcement of their rights.
(ECLAC, 2014c; Cruces, Domench and Pinto, 2012; Del Popolo and Schkolnik, 2013).
In Latin America, there are currently 826 indigenous peoples recognized by States, 9 either directly in their laws
or in different public policy instruments, representing a total of more than 46 million people. 10 In addition, the region
is also home to a large number of Afro-descendants, calculated at more than 120 million people, most of whom live
in Brazil (ECLAC, 2013c).
Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants are at a clear disadvantage vis-à-vis the rest of the population in the
vast majority of social indicators and in the enforcement of rights. 11 It is therefore important to acknowledge that
ethnic and racial inequalities, along with those arising from gender-related factors, are crucial components in the
8
The World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, held in New York on 22 and 23 September 2014, provided an opportunity to share
viewpoints and best practices for enforcing the rights of indigenous peoples and for attaining the objectives of the 2007 Declaration.
9
According to estimates for 2010, a panorama of extremes exists in the region’s countries: at one end stands Brazil, with 305 indigenous
peoples, followed by Colombia (102), Peru (85) and Mexico (78), and, at the other, Costa Rica and Panama (9 each), followed by El
Salvador (3) and Uruguay (2) (see ECLAC, 2014c).
10
There is, however, some controversy surrounding that figure, since it still relies primarily on linguistic criteria and fails to adequately
complement those criteria with others, such as self-identification and membership in indigenous families and communities.
11
This topic has been addressed by ECLAC on various occasions. See, inter alia: ECLAC, 2014b and 2014c.
Chapter I
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