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

<strong>Draft</strong> <strong>first</strong> <strong>regional</strong> <strong>report</strong> on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development
Chapter III
As was already mentioned, the inclusion of indigenous self-identification is necessary, but not enough
to obtain information with an indigenous peoples’ perspective. Population and housing censuses now
incorporate new dimensions and variables relating to these peoples, such as indigenous languages, categories
that explicitly recognize indigenous households, questions on spirituality, polygamous marital relationships
in indigenous territories and on intercultural bilingual education, for example. Also, agricultural censuses
include other variables of interest or categories that are relevant to indigenous peoples. For instance, in
Colombia, the response options for variables on the sustainability of agricultural activity include indigenous
practices, and in Peru, given that campesino and indigenous communities are regarded as producing units,
a series of questions have been developed to focus on the social, cultural and economic organization of
indigenous peoples. Progress is being made in terms of producing units being defined in accordance
with ancestral territories and indigenous institutions, but, although this has established an important
precedent in the region, these cases are still isolated. Lastly, although complementary methodologies
have been developed in the region to build culturally relevant indicators (such as indigenous censuses or
complementary surveys of indigenous peoples), these are insufficient, not systematic and require a further
development of content and uses.
Notwithstanding, the information available in the region is underutilized. Once indigenous self-identification
has been established, disaggregation, dissemination and analysis of these data are essential. The strengthening
of national capacity, both for State agencies and indigenous organizations, is another challenge hampering
the effective use of this information and its influence on policies. In the past decade, numerous initiatives
have been carried out in the region in these areas, but they must be coordinated and sustained over time;
hence, resource allocation is indispensable.
As stipulated by international regulations, indigenous people must be guaranteed participation in
data production, dissemination and analysis. This is crucial for improving the quality of the data collected,
for the validation and acceptance of State figures by indigenous peoples, and for contributing to data
democratization. The censuses of the 2010 decade show significant progress in this respect, as the vast
majority of countries have set up indigenous participation mechanisms and some have also established an
institutional framework to address this issue. For example, in 2007, Ecuador created a national statistical
commission for indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian and Montubio people (CONEPIA), comprising representatives
of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, organizations of the different peoples and nationalities
and State institutions in charge of ethnic affairs. In 2009, Guatemala created an office to coordinate gender
statistics and indigenous peoples, which is an interinstitutional mechanism to promote mainstreaming
of the respective perspectives. In 2013, Peru established an interinstitutional technical committee on
ethnicity statistics, led by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics and composed of indigenous
organizations, the public defender’s office and the Vice-Ministry of Interculturalism. In 2015, Colombia set
up a process of consultation and consensus-building between the National Administrative Department of
Statistics (DANE) and indigenous organizations and peoples, which involved the permanent committee
for cooperation with indigenous peoples and organizations, to ensure the full participation of indigenous
peoples in the population and housing census. Although the process was complex, it was a pioneering
experience that should be taken into account by other countries in the region.
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