Draft first regional report on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development

Chapter III
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
the national council for urban and rural development (CONADUR); in Mexico, the Foreign Affairs Secretariat
coordinates a conference on access to justice for indigenous women, and in Peru, an interinstitutional committee
for statistics on ethnicity was created by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (ECLAC, 2013a
and 2014; national <strong>report</strong>s of the Government of Guatemala (2017), the Government of Mexico (2018) and
the Government of Peru (2018)).
In terms of policies and programmes, the national <strong>report</strong>s reveal a variety of initiatives implemented from
2013 up until now, which are a continuation of the measures adopted in the previous decade and in several
cases broaden and deepen their scope to incorporate the rights standards of indigenous peoples. It is important
to note that these contribute to fulfilling provisions contained across the different chapters of the Montevideo
Consensus, alongside other actions focused on the collective rights of indigenous peoples. Most countries
describe in their national <strong>report</strong>s development policies and programmes that explicitly include indigenous
peoples (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana,
Mexico, Panama, and Peru). The areas of focus are diverse and address, inter alia, education, health (including
sexual and reproductive rights), food security, housing, the labour market and production development, and
social protection.
Among the national policies that explicitly include indigenous peoples, Brazil has a programme entitled “Bolsa
Família” which in 2017 covered roughly 114,000 indigenous families throughout the country (Government of
Brazil, 2017). Chile has a local development programme (PRODESAL) and an indigenous territorial development
programme (INDAP-CONADI) implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture since 2017, which focuses on improving
and expanding the production systems of indigenous communities and families; a Ministry of Public Works
programme to improve connectivity in the rural road network entitled “Programa de Caminos Básicos”, which
includes indigenous communities; and a chapter on indigenous peoples in the 2050 energy policy launched
by the Ministry of Energy in 2017, which focuses on the recognition, promotion and protection of indigenous
peoples’ rights (Government of Chile, 2017).
Costa Rica has incorporated indigenous cosmovision into the 2013-2030 national policy for housing and
human settlements of the Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements, to ensure that these settlements
are appropriate and adapted to the needs of indigenous peoples in each territorial context (Government of
Costa Rica, 2017). In Panama, the 2015-2019 strategic government plan entitled “Un Solo País” (2014) makes
explicit reference to indigenous areas. Guatemala has established a national development plan entitled
“K’atun 2032” with the participation and inclusion of all sectors of society, especially representatives of the
Maya, Garifuna and Xinka peoples (Government of Guatemala, 2017). In Colombia, the final peace agreement
between the national government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP)
in 2016 marked a fundamental and inspiring milestone for the improvement of the situation of indigenous and
Afrodescendent peoples in that country. This agreement takes into consideration the situation of indigenous
peoples across the board and includes a specific chapter to guarantee their individual and collective rights
(Government of Colombia, 2018).
Most countries have <strong>report</strong>ed initiatives (from the adoption of laws, policies and programmes to the
development of rules and procedures to implement regulations) that focus in particular on bilingual intercultural
education, the promotion and revitalization of culture (including indigenous languages) and intercultural health.
There are also measures relating to the right to identity, the fight against racism, participation and free, prior
and informed consent (see section 2.a of this chapter), territorial rights (see section 3) and access to justice.
In Mexico for example, a protocol for those who deliver justice in cases involving the rights of indigenous
individuals, communities and peoples was developed to ensure that they “adhere to the highest national
and international standards” (Government of Mexico, 2018). A framework cooperation agreement for the
operation of the criminal justice system with an intercultural and multilingual vision was also signed, with the
aim to guarantee full access to justice for indigenous people and communities, who for the <strong>first</strong> time would
enjoy free access to the services of bilingual lawyers and interpreters with knowledge of their traditions and
customs as well as their language (Government of Mexico, 2018).
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