This article is focused on the following UN Sustainable Development Goal:
Whenever you think of Latin America, Native Americans (or the Indigenous) population, is usually not the first thing that comes into your mind. It is something that is majorly overlooked in our lives, due to the creation of different cultures from Europe, to Africa, to Asia and the Americas, creating a Latin-American culture. Though, Native Latin Americans are still present in today’s society, from the Aztec descendants to the Andes peoples to Native Amazonians. One factor about these people though, is they suffer from reduced inequalities especially in a society like in their own countries.
In an article by the United Nations Development Programme, they state that “The indigenous population of Latin America consists of approximately 50 million people, who belong to 500 different ethnic groups” - which makes them 8% of the total population of the regions that they are living in, but they make up a whopping 14% of the impoverished population.
At the start of the twenty-first century, the indigenous people of Latin America were better off than they had ever been: the number of impoverished people was reduced and they were able to attain greater access to basic necessities. They were also able to gain access to education in countries like Ecuador, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
However, a report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean says that “despite these gains, many gaps remain, as indigenous peoples continue to be confronted with glass ceilings and structural barriers that limit their full social and economic inclusion”. So, despite all of the developments being made for the Indigenous peoples, they still face discrimination in different aspects of life that might not be focused on too heavily.
Their living situations portray this fact very well since Indigenous people tend to live in urban areas that are less safe, less sanitary, and prone to disasters. These living conditions can make them more prone to calamities - a disease like COVID-19 could spread around a community like wildfire, infecting a lot of people if they were in close proximity to one another.
Poverty doesn’t just disappear overnight, but something you can do to help is spread awareness, and try to keep an open mind and take information in from different perspectives. Even if things aren’t an immediate benefit to the Indigenous people, in the long run, they will help somebody.
Remember, change starts with you.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (2023) Horizontal inequality and ethnic discrimination in four Latin American countries, Publication | Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. CEPAL. Available at: https://www.cepal.org/en/publications/44319-horizontal-inequality-and-ethnic-discrimination-four-latin-american-countries (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
World Bank Group (2020) Indigenous Latin America in the twenty-first century, World Bank. World Bank Group. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/lac/brief/indigenous-latin-america-in-the-twenty-first-century-brief-report-page (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
Author Martín de Dios and Martín de Dios Affiliate researcher at the Center for Studies for Human Development (CEDH) of Universidad de San Andrés. Director of the Lewet Wichí Foundation. (2020) The situation of Latin America's indigenous population and the impact of covid-19: United Nations Development Programme, UNDP. Available at: https://www.undp.org/latin-america/blog/situation-latin-america%E2%80%99s-indigenous-population-and-impact-covid-19 (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
Daily, B.E.L. (2023) A look at the major indigenous cultures of 13 Latino countries, BELatina. Available at: https://belatina.com/indigenous-cultures-latino-countries/ (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
Discrimination against indigenous peoples: The Latin American context (no date) United Nations. United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/discrimination-against-indigenous-peoples-latin-american-context (Accessed: January 20, 2023).
Comments