This document outlines the political positioning of indigenous youth and women's organizations from Central America and Mexico at the 58th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. It expresses concerns over the lack of recognition of traditional indigenous knowledge in education and calls on states to ensure self-determination and participation of indigenous peoples in the design of intercultural education. It urges states to promote access to education without discrimination and to address inequalities faced specifically by indigenous women and girls.

1.
FIFTY-­‐EIGHTH
SESSION
OF
THE
COMMISSION
ON
THE
STATUS
OF
WOMEN
(CSW)
10
-­‐
21
March
2014
United
Nations
-­‐
New
York
Political
Positioning:
Central
America
and
Mexico
Indigenous
Youth
Network
-­‐
Red
de
Jóvenes
Indígenas
de
Centroamérica
y
México
Central
America
and
Mexico
Indigenous
Women’s
Alliance
-­‐
Alianza
de
Mujeres
Indígenas
de
Centroamérica
y
México
Indigenous
women
and
girls
for
the
right
to
education
from
our
worldview,
without
violence
or
discrimination
We
reaffirm
that
indigenous
peoples
posses
traditional
knowledge
and
practices
that
form
part
of
our
ancestral
knowledge
and
science,
which
have
been
passed
on
for
generations
through
oral
transmission,
thereby,
allowing
for
the
preservation
of
our
worldview,
history
and
collective
memory.
We
express
our
concern
over
the
devaluation,
exclusion
and
lack
of
recognition
of
our
traditional
knowledge
and
ancestral
practices,
which
have
no
place
in
the
so
called
"formal"
education,
ignoring
and
mythologizing
them
as
backward
knowledge,
causing
disruption
of
the
identity
development
process
of
our
people,
cultural
homogenization
and
the
detriment
of
cultural
diversity.
Recalling
the
United
Nations
Declaration
on
the
Rights
of
Indigenous
Peoples,
Articles
11
and
12
where
our
rights
as
indigenous
peoples
to
maintain,
protect
and
develop
past,
present
and
future
expressions,
including
designs,
technologies,
arts
and
literature,
as
well
as
the
right
to
teach
our
traditions
and
customs
is
established.
We
continue
to
be
denied
participation
in
the
construction
of
educational
models
that
respond
to
our
needs
as
indigenous
peoples.
We
recognize
the
importance
and
benefit
of
having
access
to
knowledge
that
promotes
Western
education
aimed
at
indigenous
peoples,
however,
there
are
still
indigenous
contexts
where
structural
conditions
and
lack
of
basic
services
are
a
priority
and
prerequisites
before
the
implementation
of
public
policies
in
intercultural
education,
science
and
technology.
We
believe
that
access
to
intercultural
education
is
not
an
exclusive
theme
of
indigenous
peoples,
it
is
an
issue
that
concerns
everyone,
so
together
as
indigenous
peoples,
along
other
stakeholders,
lets
put
an
end
to
existing
racism
and
discrimination
in
our
society.
We
express
our
concern
over
the
existent
differences
between
indigenous
women
and
men,
and
access
to
education,
since
patriarchy
has
perpetrated
all
cultures,
becoming
a
global
phenomenon
which
indigenous
peoples
are
not
exempt
from.
In
most
of
our
villages,
access
to
"formal"
education
is
prioritized
in
men,
relegating
women
and
girls
to
domestic
work.

2.
Therefore,
we
urge
States
to:
1.-­‐
Ensure
indigenous
peoples
self-­‐determination
by
establishing
legal,
administrative
or
any
other
types
mechanisms,
allowing
us
to
be
subjects
of
our
own
identity
development.
In
terms
of
education,
ensure
mechanisms
for
effective
participation
in
the
design,
implementation
and
evaluation
of
our
models
of
intercultural
education.
2.-­‐
Include
the
intercultural
perspective
at
all
levels
of
education
for
indigenous
peoples,
considering
that
interculturality
is
a
process
generated
through
dialogue
on
an
equal
footing
between
governments
and
peoples.
The
cultural
relevance
of
educational
models
undergo
holistic
content
issues
that
ensure
effectiveness
in
the
implementation
of
government
and
community
measures
for
access
to
education.
3.-­‐
Evaluate
in
conjunction
with
indigenous
peoples,
the
relevance
of
geographical
locations
of
schools
at
all
levels,
in
order
to
prevent
youths
from
our
villages
to
travel
long
distances
or
migrate
to
urban
centers
or
other
locations.
In
particular,
promote
actions
aimed
at
eradicating
structural,
social,
economic
and
cultural
inequalities
and
existing
discrimination
to
access
secondary
education
and
upper
level
education
between
indigenous
and
non-­‐indigenous
applicants.
4.-­‐
Ensure
that
bilingual
intercultural
education
at
all
levels
is
conducted
by
teachers
from
indigenous
regions,
so
that
they
are
contextualized
in
our
regulatory
systems,
have
knowledge
of
our
culture
and
hence
facilitate
the
construction
of
learning
processes.
5.-­‐
Generate
monitoring
mechanisms
composed
of
members
from
indigenous
communities
and
State
education
authorities,
to
prevent
and
punish
abuse,
violence
and
discrimination
within
indigenous
and
non-­‐indigenous
schools.
6.-­‐
Generate
strategies
in
conjunction
with
indigenous
peoples,
addressing
gender-­‐differentiated
approaches
to
eradicate
sexist
cultural
causes
that
prevent
girls,
youth
and
female
adults
from
having
access
to
education
on
equal
footing
with
men.
7.-­‐
Promote
indigenous
peoples
access
to
new
technologies
through
previous
contextualized
diagnoses,
developed
and
implemented
in
conjunction
with
indigenous
populations,
to
determine
actions
and
implementation
mechanisms
with
intercultural
and
gender
approaches.
As
indigenous
youth
we
commit
to
foster
the
transfer
of
knowledge
between
generations
that
allow
us
to
strengthen
our
identity
as
indigenous
people,
recognizing
the
historical
processes
of
our
peoples.
We
reaffirm
our
commitment
to
fight
and
defend
our
rights
as
indigenous
peoples
and
we
declare
ourselves
against
the
various
forms
of
violence
against
indigenous
peoples.

3.
Signatory
Organizations:
Mujeres
Indígenas
del
Wangki
Tangni.,
Union
Nacional
de
Mujeres
Kunas
"Nis
bundor".,
Coordinadora
Nacional
de
Mujeres
Mayas
Garifunas
y
Xinca
(Conmagaxi).,
Zihuakali
Casa
de
las
Mujeres
Indígenas
en
Nuevo
León
A.C.,
Mujeres
Indígenas
por
CIARENA
A.C.,
Centro
Alternativo
para
el
Desarrollo
integral
indígena,
A.C.,
Colectivo
Ma'
alob
Cuxtal.,
Grupo
de
Mujeres
8
de
Marzo
A.C.,
SUU
NI
MA
RII
A.C.,
Colectivo
yani
tundavií
dikuintií.,
Colectivo
Mujer
y
Utopía.,
Centro
de
Atención
a
la
Familia
Migrante
Indígena
de
Tlaxcala
A.C.
(CAFAMI).,
Casa
de
la
Salud
de
la
Mujer
Indígena
“Manos
Unidas”
A.C.,
Colectivo
Revolución
Mujer.,
“Kaansik
Le
Culturae
Mayae”.,
Red
Nacional
de
Mujeres
Indígenas
Tejiendo
Derechos
con
la
Madre
Tierra
RENAMITT.,
Corazones
que
Vuelan
A.C.,
Mujeres
en
Acción
con
Palabra
y
Pensamiento
Ayuujk
MAPPA.,
Organización
Nación
P'urhépecha
Zapatista.,
Coordinadora
Nacional
de
Mujeres
Indígenas
CONAMI.,
Movimiento
Agrario
Indígena
Zapatista
MAIZ.
Red
de
Jóvenes
Indígenas
de
Centroamérica
y
México.,
Alianza
de
Mujeres
Indígenas
de
Centroamérica
y
México.,
Foro
Internacional
de
Mujeres
Indígenas
FIMI.