{"id":3331,"date":"2017-08-25T10:44:32","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T18:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=3331&lang=en"},"modified":"2017-08-25T10:47:35","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T18:47:35","slug":"icefi-study-shows-discrimination-in-government-spending-on-maya-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/icefi-study-shows-discrimination-in-government-spending-on-maya-communities\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Icefi study shows discrimination in government spending on Maya communities"},"content":{"rendered":"
Commentary from the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi)<\/h5>\n

The Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi) presented its study \u201cAtlas of public investment in indigenous communities<\/a>\u201d in Guatemala City in July. The study\u2019s alarming findings show deficient public spending on indigenous communities. Approximately half of Guatemala\u2019s population, around eight million people, identifies as indigenous. The presentation forum included a representative from the Presidential Commission against Discrimination and Racism (CODISRA) and two representatives from civil society, who reacted along with members of the public to the alarming statistics. The Icefi initiative was supported by the international NGO Support Mechanism for Indigenous People, Oxlajuj Tz\u2019ikin 2014-2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

For every quetzal invested in non-indigenous communities, the Guatemalan government invests only 45 cents in indigenous communities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Senior Icefi economist Enrique Maldonado led the presentation and described the socioeconomic situation of indigenous communities in Guatemala<\/a>. The study analyzed poverty statistics by age group, and found that 60% of young indigenous children live in poverty. The consequences of poverty hit hardest during those first years of life for indigenous children. Further, the study broke down poverty indicators by ethnicity and linguistic group, and showed that poverty is disproportionately present in indigenous communities, especially the Uspanteko, Ch\u2019orti, Ixil, and Q\u2019eqchi\u2019 communities.<\/p>\n

The study also analyzed the Guatemalan government\u2019s 2015 Federal Budget, and found that Q31.997 billion (approximately $4.27 billion in 2015 US dollars) of public spending went to the mestizo\/ladino (non-indigenous) population, while Q10.647 billion (approximately $1.42 billion in 2015 US dollars) went to the indigenous population<\/a>. This shows that for every quetzal invested in the non-indigenous population, the Guatemalan government invests only 45 cents in the indigenous population, though it makes up roughly half the country. Further, detailed analysis of that spending found that Q4.5 billion (approximately $600 million in 2015 US dollars) went to education in indigenous communities, with the majority going to primary education.<\/p>\n

This coincides with low rates of graduation from middle school and high school in indigenous communities (25.7% and 12.5%, respectively). Analysis of other socioeconomic indicators and of government spending on health and housing yields very similar findings of indigenous communities in especially precarious situations.<\/p>\n

These studies will help express the situation of indigenous communities in the language of politicians and economists, ‘who often see us simply as numbers.’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The analysis confirmed racial economic discrimination against indigenous communities. On this point, Andrea Ixch\u00edu, spokesperson for Prensa Comunitaria and Red Tzik\u00edn, said during a panel discussion that this kind of structural discrimination against indigenous communities disproportionately affects indigenous women even more severely. Ixch\u00edu explained that these studies will help express the situation of indigenous communities in the language of politicians and economists, \u201cwho often see us simply as numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her part, social scientist Francisca G\u00f3mez Grijalva analyzed the state of education in indigenous communities in Guatemala. Low public investment prevents these communities from receiving education in their own languages. She said, \u201cIt\u2019s through our language that we transmit our history, customs, and knowledge,\u201d which means that the deficiencies in bilingual education have grave impacts on the culture of indigenous communities.<\/p>\n

Finally, Jos\u00e9 Dionisio Canahu\u00ed, the CODISRA representative and an international study specialist, also agreed that in government there is structural discrimination against indigenous communities. He also commended the study and affirmed that it \u201cfulfills the requirements to present it to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,\u201d of the United Nations.<\/p>\n

To end the forum, the panel accepted comments from the public. Attendees from various linguistic communities expressed their opinions about the data in the study, and agreed on the importance of presenting the information not only to relevant governmental authorities, but also to the different regions of the country. As a result of the comments, Icefi committed to organizing more presentations, and, along with the Finance Ministry, which also took the opportunity to comment, committed to sharing the study\u2019s data openly so that other parties can do further analysis.<\/p>\n

In August, presentations will take place in Quetzaltenango and Totonicap\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

If you would like access to the study\u2019s statistics database, write to Enrique.maldonado@icefi.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Francisca G\u00f3mez y Andrea Ixch\u00edu en la presentaci\u00f3n del estudio \u00abAtlas de la inversi\u00f3n p\u00fablica en pueblos ind\u00edgenas\u00bb. Foto cortes\u00eda de Icefi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commentary from the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi) The Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi) presented its study \u201cAtlas of public investment in indigenous communities\u201d in Guatemala City in July. The study\u2019s alarming findings show deficient public spending on indigenous communities. Approximately half of Guatemala\u2019s population, around eight million people, identifies as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[455,424],"tags":[968,964,962,811,969,800,966,65,560,762,647,818,87,963,965,967],"class_list":["post-3331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pagetwo-en","category-politics","tag-budget","tag-communities","tag-comunidades-indigenas","tag-desigualdad","tag-discrimination","tag-gasto-publico","tag-government","tag-guatemala","tag-guatemala-en","tag-icefi","tag-indigenous","tag-inequality","tag-maya","tag-presupuesto","tag-public","tag-spending"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/icefi.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-RJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3346,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/economy\/impunity-tax-privileges-and-weak-institutions-threaten-fiscal-policy-in-central-americas-northern-triangle\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":3331,"position":0},"title":"Impunity, tax privileges, and weak institutions threaten fiscal policy in Central America\u2019s Northern Triangle","author":"EntreMundos","date":"25 agosto, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Commentary by Icefi - August, 2017 The Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi) is concerned about recent actions taken by the governments and federal courts of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. 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