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elections. The project provided an analysis of the electoral law,

translated selected provisions into the four national languages,

and produced image libraries illustrating selected relevant provi-

sions with captions in each language, cartoons, posters and videos

as means of raising awareness and educating the communities.

Let us now cross the Atlantic and the Caribbean and head for

Central America. In Guatemala, more than three decades of civil

war took a brutal toll on indigenous people and Ladino peasants.

Today, the Q’eqchi’ Maya make up more than a million of the

poor. Based in rural and remote areas of the departments of Alta

Verapaz, Izabal and Petén, they have historically been excluded

from participation in the nation’s democratic political life. They

have suffered from repeated violations of their individual and

collective rights. Their access to justice is limited, while their

hold on land and natural resources is insecure.

Against this background, UNDEF funds an effort by Asociación

Estore

a Para el Desarrollo Integral to train community organ-

izers in mediation, reconciliation and peacebuilding; to rebuild

traditional forms of organization practiced by ancestors, strength-

ening social cohesion; and to create a Council of Indigenous

Q’eqchi’ Peoples and a Centre of Indigenous Rights along with

a virtual space for documentation and advice. These receive

complaints, disseminate documents, provide online counselling

and monitor violations. The trained leaders assume the role of

justice promoters, providing legal and policy advice and services

for meditation and reconciliation. They use ancient practices as

well as modern knowledge including national and international

human rights mechanisms and laws, drawing especially on the

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, an instru-

ment of the International Labour Organization.

Let’s move 4,000 kilometres further south, from Alta Verapaz

to La Paz. In Bolivia, most indigenous communities have histori-

cally been unable to exercise their civil and indigenous rights and

have generally remained excluded from political decision-making

processes. The current constitution, however, does recognize

the rights of indigenous, native and peasant nations and peoples,

and the Government has made legal changes to promote indig-

enous people’s participation in decision-making. To support this

process, UNDEF funds a project by Microjusticia Bolivia in the

La Paz and Oruro departments, to assist in legally and politically

empowering indigenous communities. It is doing so by providing

themwith basic legal identity documents, prerequisites for demo-

cratic participation which many of them have lacked in the past;

strengthening their knowledge and capacity to participate in demo-

cratic processes and to exercise their rights; and improving access

to basic legal documents and rights for all, through evidence-based

advocacy aimed at institutional change. The project is also setting

up a network of rural facilitators, to act as focal points for estab-

lishing outlets for legal advice and run legal campaigns on how to

obtain the necessary documentation. Just as important, the project

encourages debate between traditional leaders and government

officials in networking meetings and a forum.

Finally, we cross the South and North Pacific to the largest

country in the world, covering 11 time zones and almost 200

ethnic groups designated as nationalities: the Russian Federation.

Modern Russia is experiencing a massive rise in external and

internal migration, changing the country’s already diverse ethnic

composition. This has led to an increase in xenophobia, tension

and extremism targeting migrants, ethnic minorities and, as

a backlash, ethnic Russians. This is why UNDEF supported a

project in the Russian Federation to empower civil society organ-

izations established by migrants and ethnic minorities so as to

strengthen their access to justice and their ability to combat xeno-

phobia and discrimination, and help them interact with national

institutions. This involved training and dialogue with migrant

organizations and police, social services, media and ombudsman

institutions. Police dealing with extremism, police training acad-

emies and the Federal Migration Service all took part. The project,

implemented by the Perm Centre for Assistance to Victims of

Violence and Human Trafficking, also held workshops in two

migrant countries of origin – Azerbaijan and Tajikistan – and

one Russian region of origin – Dagestan – bringing together

representatives of human rights NGOs and trade unions. These

were an opportunity to explore the reasons for migrating and

ways in which organizations in countries and regions of origin

could support migrants through information about labour law,

legal requirements and experiences in integration.

Those who took part in the training seminars said they had

gained a better understanding of the legal and policy context of

the treatment of migrants and ethnic minorities, and were better

able to advocate in favour of their beneficiaries. Police cited the

project’s strength in providing methodical, practical advice and

recommendations on dealing with specific situations: how to talk

to victims of violence, whom to notify, what questions to ask, and

what government services and migrant NGOs to recommend.

The project was also able to address negative reporting in the

media through training of journalists, which also led to better

contacts between local media, migrant communities, police and

the Ombudsman’s office. This in turn led to a better quality of

media reporting on migration issues. A series of round tables in

the Perm region led to the first direct dialogue between journal-

ists and senior municipal police officers.

Eight projects, some of them starting with a group talking

under a tree, going on to reach thousands of people. Eight

relays, each indirectly reaching tens of thousands more. They

all spoke – and as important, they were all heard.

UNDEF funds a project by Microjusticia Bolivia in the La Paz and

Oruro departments to assist in legally and politically empowering

indigenous communities

Image: UNDEF

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