Pueblos indígenas, recursos naturales y desarrollo con identidad: riesgos y oportunidades en tiempos de globalización
By Anne Deruyttere (05/03, En, Es) See also Indigenous Peoples and Community Development
This paper outlines some of the basic trends in indigenous development issues observed throughout the IDB?s more than 20 years experience with indigenous development initiatives throughout the region. It builds on the 1997 paper: Indigenous Peoples and Sustainable Development: the Role of the Inter-American Development Bank to include new information on the evolving situation of indigenous peoples in the region, lessons learned from IDB sponsored projects and from other agencies, changes in international and national legislation and evolving demands from increasingly visible and important indigenous organizations in political and economic fora. Indigenous peoples and the development institutions in responding to their demands are increasingly finding ways to break cycles of material poverty and dependency by recognizing previously undervalued indigenous assets as vehicles to improve socio-economic conditions while strengthening cultural heritage and natural resources. As such a three-pronged strategy is proposed to (1) strengthening the territorially based indigenous economies as the safety net against external shocks and the basis for ethnic identity and cultural reproduction; (2) reducing discrimination and barriers to equal access of indigenous peoples to culturally pertinent opportunities for education, health, employment, financial services, etc; and (3) supporting innovative approaches to draw on the comparative advantages of indigenous assets in supplying goods and services for which there exist increasing demand in the globalizing economy, as evidence by the market niches for eco/ethnotourism, indigenous art and handicrafts, ethnomedicinal, ethnobotanical and other products and services drawing on indigenous knowledge and technology, etc. As such this paper is one of the background documents for the IDB?s strategic framework on indigenous development currently under preparation.
This paper is only available in Spanish.
This working paper is being published with the sole objective of contributing to the debate on a topic of importance to the region, and to elicit comments and suggestions from interested parties. This paper has not gone through the Department?s peer review process or undergone consideration by the SDS Management Team. As such, it does not reflect the official position of the Inter-American Development Bank. Please direct your comments to Anne Deruyttere anned@iadb.org
Last updated: 05/08/07
