Colombia: Corporate and government corruption contributes to widespread malnutrition in Wayuu Indigenous communities, according to HRW
Autor/in: Human Rights Watch, Veröffentlicht am: 13 August 2020
“Colombia: Indigenous Kids at Risk of Malnutrition, Death” – 13 August 2020
…The pandemic and lockdown are making it harder than ever for the Wayuu, many of whom live in the Colombian northeastern state of La Guajira, to get adequate food, water, and health care at a time when they need them more than ever. The Colombian government should urgently take action to protect indigenous Wayuu children’s rights. “Rural indigenous communities in La Guajira can’t get sufficient food or enough water for basic hygiene, such as handwashing, and access to health care and information is very poor,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “This situation has for years contributed to one of the highest levels of child malnutrition in Colombia, and it raises critical concerns in the current context of Covid-19”…With a population of at least 270,000, the Wayuu are Colombia’s largest group of indigenous people…Most live in rural areas or small towns and have traditionally relied on subsistence farming, seasonal foraging, herding goats, or fishing as their main sources of food and income. Many others work in tourism or salt or coal mining, make and sell handicrafts, or depend on market trade with neighboring Venezuela…While Colombia has reduced the national death rate of children under 5 years of age over the last five years, the death rate of children in La Guajira increased during that same period. The official death rate of children under 5 from malnutrition in La Guajira was nearly six times the national rate in 2019. Yet the real rate may be even higher, according to doctors, nurses, government officials, and aid workers…While the nationwide average child mortality rate due to malnutrition has dropped dramatically in recent years, the rate has not improved in La Guajira, and the state currently has the highest number of childhood malnutrition deaths in the country…Pervasive government corruption, including in the procurement and execution of contracts, is also undermining water projects, school meal programs, and health services in La Guajira... In most of these cases, corruption occurred during the execution of contracts with companies hired to provide health and food services. Since these figures only reflect investigations into a limited set of cases, the total money lost to corruption in La Guajira is most likely much higher…