Ordinance incorporates the Permanent Panel for Interadministrative Coordination into the department of Amazonas’ institutional operations
The Permanent Panel for Interadministrative Coordination (known as the MPCI, the Spanish acronym) is recognized as a space for the coordination of indigenous policies in the department of Amazonas.
Through Ordinance 004, of 11th February 2011, recognizing the MPCI, the Honorable Amazonas Departmental Assembly incorporated the Permanent Panel for Interadministrative Coordination into its institutional operations. It acknowledges the political importance of this scenario for administrative coordination between the departmental government and the Associations of Traditional Indigenous Authorities (known as AATIs, the Spanish acronym); a recognition earned since the creation of a Framework Agreement between the Departmental Government and AATIs for the MPCI.
This ordinance forms part of the fulfillment of agreements established between departmental authorities and the Associations of Traditional Indigenous Authorities (recognized as public authorities) in the XVIII MPCI Minutes – Nov 2010, which took place in the city of Leticia during 22nd-24th November 2010. In this agreement, under the theme of territory and environment, point 9 establishes that “Between the parties, they will coordinate the preparation of an ordinance project so that the MPCI is recognized as an institutional space where public indigenous policies of Amazonas department are coordinated”. In addition, under points 6 and 7 of the agreements, the Governor’s Office commits to supporting the XIX MPCI meeting in preparing public indigenous policies and in the search for economic resources to support two MPCI meetings to be held annually (in May and November).
Since the outset, the MPCI has managed to create a space where decentralization is carried out through the preparation of public policies in health, education and territorial management; the coordination among representatives of the departmental authorities and the indigenous authorities for administrative and political decision-making; and importantly, the active participation of indigenous communities who, prior to the MPCI meeting, take decisions for the investment of funds and the cultural orientation of their projects. In this sense, the MPCI is a space where the decisions of the communities are coordianted, within the framework of their rights as established in the Political Constitution of our country.
After 9 years of continuous work, the MPCI has achieved the decentralization of education, creating two modalities for the provision of this service: co-administration and all-inclusive. These systems of administration have enabled, among other aspects, the expansion and maintenance of education coverage in Amazonas (1,800 indigenous children currently attend community schools), and the construction of a model of multi-lingual, intercultural education where the teachers are named by the communities themselves, and are responsible for strengthening traditional knowledge which is the basis for conservation of the Amazon forest.
In the issue of public health, interadministrative agreements have been established for technical and financial cooperation, with the main objective of building and managing a model of differentiated health that is sustained by a refined system of compiling epidemiological data gathered during the last eight years by each of the community health promoters.
In terms of resources, and thanks to this process, we can talk of management by the communities, in an autonomous way, of more than two thousand million pesos each year; money that is controlled by the MPCI for investment by the communities.
The challenge remains for building agile and transparent administrative systems for managing health and education funds and proposals for political regulation that enable follow-up to the fulfillment of agreements; both within the interior of the departmental government and within the indigenous communities.
In this way, the XIX MPCI to be celebrated in the month of May, has the challenge of continuing to strengthen local governance in the theme of environment and territory, health and education, and to implement the ordinance of the Honorable Departmental Assembly.
This effort has been promoted by Gaia Amazonas Foundation during the nine years of this process with funds from international cooperation, mostly from the European Union and the Swedish International Development Agency for Development. In this way the idea, which emerged from the seats of thinking of the traditional knowledge holders and their communities, has materialized. Recognition of the importance of the MPCI by the Amazonas Government, and the announcement of the search for additional funds for its public funding, constitute an important achievement for the foundation and the communities who form the MPCI.
For more infomation, contact Omar Garzón – Gaia Amazonas officer [ogarzon@gaiaamazonas.org] |
