Mexico City, August 7, 2014.- Complementary to the poverty measurement to national, state and municipal level, the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL, Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social) maintains a permanent research agenda, whose purpose is to deepen in the knowledge of every social right established in the General Law of Social Development, as well as in relation to each one of them to poverty and their particular manifestations in specific segments, such as the case of the indigenous population.
Because of this, in an academic meeting carried out by the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS, Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores de Antropología Social), CONEVAL presented "La pobreza en la población indígena de México, 2012" (Poverty in Mexico's Indigenous Population, 2012) book, which has as objective to characterize the indigenous population in terms of its poverty situation and vulnerability, and also in basic sociodemographic aspects that might be related to the scarcity settings, which will allow to have an analysis of the indigenous population and to promote the centered public policies that seek to provide the same opportunities and services to this social group in relation to the general population.
"La pobreza en la población indígena de México, 2012" highlights that the indigenous population is a varied sector in its interior and not a homogeneous population aggregate, as it is usually regarded in the social imaginary and in the focalization processes of social development policies. It does not refer to the differences between belonging to one or another ethnic group, but to the distinctions produced from one or several elements of ethnic belonging, either the speaking of a language, the residence in an indigenous home or to consider him/herself a native person.
Based on a detailed analysis of some characteristics that identify the indigenous population, the book highlights the following groups:
1. Three-year or older persons that report to speak a native language (HLI, hablar lengua indígena).
2. The population that lives in indigenous homes, i.e., which are created by foundation members (head of household, husband/wife or any of the ancestors) who speak a native language.
3. The self-attributed population, i.e., the people who declare to consider themselves as indigenous persons.
4. The HLI population that lives in non-indigenous homes.
5. The HLI population that is not considered indigenous, either by the discrimination effect or because it is about people that learned to speak a native language without properly belonging to an ethnic group.
By finding substantial differences among the sociodemographic profiles and of poverty or vulnerability of the groups analyzed, the book recommends that the public policies aiming the indigenous population have an important grade of focalization that considers the accumulation of disadvantages and incorporates in its actions a wide set of specific cultural elements, among which are highlighted the language, the relation to the environment, the particular knowledge systems, among others.
"La pobreza en la población indígena de México, 2012" establishes the basis for a wider definition of indigenous population, consistent with the criteria used by the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI, Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas), conceptually and technically solid, as well as sensitive to the particular dynamics of the native people and which describes a homogeneous population in its scarcity or poverty profiles.
In this way, CONEVAL extends its definition of indigenous population, which took into account only the population who spoke a native language, in order to include as indigenous population the one belonging to indigenous homes -identified as the ones constituted in relation to heads and husband/wife or ancestors who speak a native language-, and the ones who speak a native language and do not live in indigenous homes.
The "La pobreza en la población indígena de México, 2012" document allows to outline the conclusions in terms of three relevant aspects:
1. The indigenous population is a varied sector in its interior and not a homogeneous population aggregate, as it is usually regarded in the social imaginary and in the focalization processes of social development policies.
2. From any methodological approach, the population with any characteristic of ethnic belonging is found in higher conditions of scarcity than the persons that do not have them. They are poor people among poor people.
3. The indigenous people live in a backwardness situation, which translates into the systematic violation of their basic rights.
Considering these conclusions, the public policies aiming the indigenous population have a double challenge: 1) to design and implement actions intended to reinforce the universal exercise of social rights, and 2) to recognize the cultural specificities that involve to be a person with indigenous characteristics, and even strengthen them to foster the development of populations.