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The Indigenous Peoples Fund

By Roger Hamilton Indigenous leaders and donors review projects following the Indigenous Fund's 1995 general asssembly in Santa Cruz, Bolivia From the time of Columbus, indigenous people have taken what measures they could to protect their rights. But it was only with the establishment of the Indigenous Peoples Fund in 1992 that the native peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean at last had a major organization of their own that also enjoyed the backing of their national governments and the international community. The fund has become a leading force for improving the status of indigenous peoples throughout the region. Much of its success is due to the principles on which it was founded, according to Anne Deruyttere, anthropologist and chief of the IDB’s Indigenous Peoples and Community Development Unit, and who worked with the government of Bolivia in starting the organization. The fund is a tripartite organization—of indigenous people, Latin American governments and governments from outside the region—in which the beneficiaries take a direct role in decision making. Its supreme authority is its general assembly, which is made up of representatives of indigenous peoples and of member country governments. Its board of directors consists of six representatives of indigenous peoples and three each from regional and nonregional member governments. In addition, the fund carries out its activities at the request of the people it is designed to benefit. Finally, it acts primarily as a catalyst, enabling it to carry out programs with just six professionals working out of its technical secretariat in La Paz, Bolivia. Initial financing to get the fund up and running was provided by the idb and other institutions. Then, at the fund’s 1997 General Assembly meeting, board members decided that it would need an endowment to ensure the fund’s long-term viability. The target was set at $100 million; pledges for $36.5 million have been received to date. In addition, donations have been provided by the IDB, the Spanish International Cooperation Agency, the German agency GTZ, the government of Belgium, the European Community and the World Bank, among others, to finance training programs, seminars and projects. France has established a $2 million account with the IDB to finance projects proposed or supported by the fund. Grassroots initiatives. The fund carries out two broad categories of activities. First, it acts as a catalyst, brokering projects, strengthening institutions and lining up financial donors. Second, it serves as a forum for discussion and conflict resolution. An example of this latter role was the fund’s participation in the process to rewrite Ecuador’s constitution. Ideas for projects come from the grassroots up. “We are not looking for projects that merely help indigenous people,” says outgoing fund President Víctor Hugo Cárdenas. “The projects must be designed by the people.” Instead of providing financing for the project itself, the fund typically provides money to prepare a proposal and helps the prospective beneficiaries find funding from other sources. Some 300 proposals are presently in the fund’s portfolio. A major fund objective is to help indigenous groups carry out projects to demarcate land and secure legal title. Land ownership is considered a basic prerequisite for long-term economic development and cultural security. The fund has helped indigenous organizations in the Bolivian lowlands to draw up legal proposals and negotiate the demarcation of some 4 million hectares. Another 10 million hectares for an additional 16 communities are being processed as a result of initiatives carried out directly by indigenous organizations. The job of demarcation is a complex one, and the proposals submitted by communities have to be scrutinized carefully. Cárdenas recalls one instance in which a community claimed territorial boundaries that would have included a large portion of the South Atlantic. The fund also played a prominent role in the negotiations for Ecuador’s constitutional reforms, helping to achieve a consensus among political parties, indigenous groups, the government, nongovernmental organizations and the church. Other projects have included support for bilingual education in Guatemala, Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia, an Andean program for intercultural and bilingual education, an initiative to produce export-quality ceramics in Bolivia, productive projects in Mexico, a youth-directed community development program and support for a network of indigenous religious leaders.

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