Oxfam-IBIS Support Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples, "Oxlajuj Tz'ikin" 2019-2025

The indigenous peoples of Guatemala are subject to racism, discrimination and social, economic and political marginalization, which among other things has led to significantly higher poverty and illiteracy among indigenous peoples compared to the rest of the population, indigenous peoples have the lowest social indicators in the country. "The programme for indigenous people's rights" is implementeded by Oxfam-Ibis together with 16 partner organizations aims to contribute to the exercise of the individual and collective rights, and self-determination of indigenous people in accordance with international agreements. The programme will cover 11 of Guatemala's 22 administrative regions (Totonicapán, Sololá, Quetzaltenango, Alta and Baja Verapaz, Quiche, Santa Rosa, Jutiapa, Jalapa, Chimaltenango and Guatemala City). These areas are highly affected by poverty and exclusion. The Swedish contribution will be used for activities aimed at strengthening knowledge and exercise of individual and collective rights as well as strengthening the capacities of the partner organisations. Legal support will be provided through the project to support indigenous people to claim their rights as established in national legislation and international agreements. The indigenous justice system will be strengthened in order to ensure equal justice for women and men. Through the facilitation of a dialogue for the integration of a gender perspective in work with indigenous authorities women’s participation in decision-making processes is expected to increase. Work with men and boys will be used as a strategy to prevent violence against women, teenage pregnancies and child marriages. As a conflict prevention measure, indigenous organizations will be supported in improving their capacity to deal with internal conflicts within their own communities, and for stronger influence on social issues, relationships with state institutions at local and national level will be supported. The project will have a strong focus on alliance building with other civil society organisations, state and academic institutions, as well as with the UN Human Rights Office to further strengthen the implementation and sustainability of the results. In this work, actors defending human rights are expected to work together in areas such as the environment and climate, access to justice and gender equality for an increased impact. Oxfam-IBIS has applied to Sida for funding of 60 million SEK to carry out the project in Guatemala during the period during November 2019 - April 2023. The project's total budget is 66.3 million SEK, out of which 6.3 million SEK is financed by DANIDA. Approximately 44 million SEK (66%) of the project budget will be forwarded to 16 local indigenous organizations.