The Spirit of Social Programs

They suggest an "emphasis on two basic principals that guide the spirit of the social programs to conceive and implement: the principle of self-determination so that a community can play an active role in its own development and the principle of self-management as an instrument to learn the concrete tasks that require the gradual incorporation of the population and the Indigenous communities into the digitalization process."

Para revertir la exclusión de los grupos indígenas de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC), es importante también promover el acceso a la información organizada de acuerdo con los intereses y las necesidades de los usuarios indígenas."

(A number of important recommendations cited by ECLAC/IDRC in March, 2003, are contained in a paper entitled: Regional Strategy for the Reduction of the Information Marginalization of the Indigenous Communities:

Revitalization of the ethnic and cultural identity of the Indigenous Peoples.

Definition of a communication policy of significant impact, aimed at the reduction of ethnic discrimination and the digital divide.

Revision of the rash defense mechanisms of the values and behavior of the peoples historically discriminated against.

Self-affirmation of the ethnic identity and distinct culture of the Indigenous Peoples, in a scenario of self-management, all of above leading to a specific program for Indigenous access to the ICT's.

Las autoras son funcionarias del Centro Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Demografía (CELADE), División de Población de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).)