Committee to address the needs of Bolivia’s indigenous peoples linked to the portfolios of Education, Health, Justice, Rural Development and Culture.
A committee to implement public policies to meet the demands of indigenous communities was formed by five Bolivian ministries on 25 January.
The Committee for the Protection of Vulnerable Indigenous Peoples will address problems related to the ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Rural Development and Culture.
The demands will reach the committee through the General Directorate for the Protection of Indigenous Nations and Peoples (Digepo), thus giving “life” to a specific law that has been in force since 2013.
This is the law for the protection of indigenous nations and peoples in situations of vulnerability, which refers to the indicators that can put this population at a disadvantage.
For the Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, the formation of the committee is “an important moment” in the construction of plurinationality in Bolivia, which recognises 36 nations or indigenous peoples in its Constitution.
Among the issues that the committee will seek to resolve are the presence of teachers in indigenous populations whose children have difficulty travelling to their schools.
As well as the need to officialise native languages, so that, in terms of the education of indigenous children, the teaching process is carried out in native languages.
In health, the aim is to implement interventions in 21 medical specialties and laboratory services, while in the area of justice, the aim is to make further progress in the development of indigenous justice.
Food security and guarantees for indigenous communities to generate additional income will also be addressed, as well as the protection of cultures and the recovery of ancestral knowledge.
All of this was announced at a press conference by the five ministers whose portfolios are involved in the committee: Édgar Pary (Education), Jeyson Auza (Health), Iván Lima (Justice), Remmy Gonzales (Rural Development) and Sabina Orellana (Culture).
