UN Working Group Condemns Racial Discrimination Of Ecuadorians Of African Descent - Analysis
UN Working Group Condemns Racial Discrimination Of Ecuadorians Of African Descent – Analysis
December 30, 2019
By IDN
By Jaya Ramachandran
Independent experts of a UN Working Group are “deeply concerned about the human rights situation of people of African descent” in Ecuador. After an official visit, a follow-up of a similar mission in 2009, the experts said, despite the progressive provisions of the Constitution, recognition of the collective rights of people of African descent and several other positive measures, “there has not yet been effective implementation and enforcement of laws and policy to protect the rights of people of African descent”.
In a statement on December 23, the UN Working Group said: “Afro-Ecuadorians and people of African descent continue to suffer racial discrimination, particularly with regard to their access to justice, security, land, clean water, education, healthcare, housing and economic opportunity.”
Ecuadorians of African descent make up 7.2% of the Ecuadorian population. Yet they comprise 40% of Ecuadorians living in poverty. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), the province of Esmeraldas where 68.25% of the population is Afro-descendant is one of the poorest and most excluded in Ecuador, 84.6 % live below the poverty line, 15.3% are illiterate, and 23% have basic services. According to official data that region also has the highest rates of maternal mortality, gender based violence and teen pregnancy.
Education in particular is a right which they have been denied. While there is affirmative action in universities giving additional points to help gain admission, Ecuadorians of African descent are not able to reach that point of seeking to gain admission because of the poor quality of their education at the primary and secondary levels, the UN human rights experts said.
The UN Working Group on People of African descent is deeply concerned by the activities of extractivist industries, and the lack of monitoring and sanctions of these industries by the state. These industries – forestry, palm, and mining – are responsible for some of the most serious human rights violations.
More:
https://www.eurasiareview.com/30122019-un-working-group-condemns-racial-discrimination-of-ecuadorians-of-african-descent-analysis/
