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INDIGENOUS WOMEN OF THE AMERICAS EN ROUTE TO CAIRO +20

First Meeting of the Regional Conference on the Population and Development

of Latin America and the Caribbean

Montevideo, 12 to 15 August 2013

On considering the needs of indigenous people withregard to population and development, states should

acknowledge and support their identity, culture and

interests and enable them to participate fully in theeconomic, political and social life of the country,

particularly in the matters of their health, education and

wellbeing

Principle 14 Programme of Action of the ICPD,1994

The member organizations of the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of

the Americas - ECMIA, with the First Meeting of the Regional Conference on the

Population and Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Cairo

+20 process in mind, make the following statement with the idea of contributing to

a Post-2015 Agenda that guarantees the full exercise of the human rights and the

individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples.

1. Since the adoption of the Cairo 94 Programme of Action, the states in our region havetried to comply with what is set out in Principle 14; bases for action 6.21, 6.22, 6.23,

with its objectives 6.24 and measures 6.25, 6.26 and 6.27; Chapter IX on the

distribution of population, urbanization and internal migration, at sub-chapter A,

number 9.9; and sub-chapter B in its section 8.12 on children's survival and health;

and Chapter XIII on health, morbidity and mortality in its section 8.5. After twenty

years, it should be pointed out that efforts have been insufficient to meet the

commitments.

2. Similarly, the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples, the ILO Convention169, the two Decades of Indigenous Peoples, and the International Day of the World's

Indigenous Peoples, created by the UNO, have generated international duties and

commitments within states for advances in the recognition of the rights of indigenous

peoples, strengthened and evidenced with specific recommendations during the past

12 years of sessions of the Permanent Forum.

3. We indigenous peoples and women view health in all its dimensions: physical,spiritual, in our surroundings, and in our feelings. From the viewpoint of indigenous

peoples and women, priority aspects in the recognition of rights are related to the

search for guaranteed access to physical, spiritual and mental health. This should take

into account the surroundings where it can be developed, where government can takeplace and where a decent life for present and future generations can be fully

guaranteed. This would be achieved through the right to free, prior and informed

consent on all aspects related to our lives and to that of Mother Nature, the

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Pachamama. This implies the right to territory, as a collective right and safeguard for

biodiversity, life and health; it is a priority and unavoidable necessity, and an

expression of the enjoyment of collective and individual rights.

4. We welcome the advances made with the implementation of health policies wheremen, women, youth, children and elderly people benefit from services which are

friendly, receptive, and respectful - and of high quality with professionals who

understand and respect differences, offering decent, human treatment. It is therefore

necessary to elaborate on these policies, making them more than institutional

experiments and practices and giving them sustainability.

5. An intercultural health system aware of the needs of indigenous women, children,youth and elderly people is still pending on the agenda. Furthermore, this needs to

take into consideration the skills and contributions of the indigenous physicians andtheir knowledge, harmonizing the biomedical systems with indigenous medical

systems.

6. Progress made with the reduction of maternal mortality is much slower amongindigenous women, youth and adolescents in the more remote areas of our countries.

Political will should therefore manifest itself not only through legislation and

regulations, but also by earmarking funds specifically for the development and

training of health professionals, infrastructure, equipment and fitting out places where

medical attention is provided, together with appropriate medicines that the patients

can afford.

7. We, the indigenous women and youth from member organizations of ECMIA havemade efforts to participate in the Post Cairo process. Overcoming barriers, prejudice,

racism, historical and structural discrimination, both inside and outside our own

culture and society, in alliance with the UNFPA we have contributed to the reduction of

maternal mortality in the communities, eliminating the fear of 'the gentleman at the

medical post' and cold, dehumanized medical practices. Similarly, with the CEPAL we

have learned to understand the importance of indicators, percentages and statistics

and their usefulness as a tool for our advocacy. At seminars, we indigenous people and

health workers have got together to build the concepts of intercultural health, sharing

the progress made in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia , Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador,

Panama and Chile. Therefore, carrying out actions that involve the exercise of our

right to participate in the design of policies and programmes, and performing citizensurveillance, will guarantee greater and better results.

8. We indigenous women have been able to promote processes of articulation, training,and information in response to the recommendations made at our Fourth Continental

Meeting (Lima, April 2004). This is a reaction to the high rate of adolescent

pregnancies, which have been identified as an important barrier to the educational

and personal development of adolescents. There remains the task of strengthening

this process and supporting actions that have multiplier effects in order to reduce

considerably the incidence of pregnancy and abandonment of school study.

9. Different types of violence, feminicide, poverty, poor education, unemployment andthe non-participation in politics of indigenous women are not visible in the statistics orstudies. The lack of disaggregated data about the affected indigenous girls, youth and

women impedes the design of specific policies to eradicate and overcome the problem.

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special attention to diagnoses and specific proposals for the prevention and

treatment of these sicknesses.

Education, training and information on sexual and reproductive health foradolescents of both genders in the communities and schools is indispensable for

the prevention of adolescent pregnancies and the proliferation of STD and HIV-

AIDS. Likewise, it is necessary to promote preventive spaces for comprehensive

development in the poor urban areas where migrant indigenous people find

accommodation.

The internal migration of indigenous men, women and youth resulting fromexpulsion from their own territories as a result of invasions, exploitation of

hydrocarbons, deforestation or depredation of the living space, is creating groups

of beggars within a hostile urban environment. It is therefore indispensable forstates to pay attention and respond to this new situation of indigenous migrants.

We recommend the states of Latin America and the Caribbean to examine againand comply with the contents of the Declaration of Ministers of Health of 30 June,

2011.

We indigenous women of the Americas express our consternation to the statesregarding the use of indigenous children as 'guinea pigs' and recommend that the

bodies of indigenous children and women must not be used to test the

effectiveness of any kind of medication or treatment. No democratic state which

respects Human Rights can permit these actions, which are damaging to ourhumanity.

Lastly, in an effort to build alliances as part of the social movement, we give our

support to the Declaration of the Articulation of Civil Society Cairo +20, the

Declaration of Youth Alliances, the Declaration of the Network of Afro-Latin-

American, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women, and we accompany and support

the Declaration of Latin American Indigenous Youth.

Montevideo, 12 August, 2013.