A/HRC/28/42
Colombian, Palenquero, Raizal and Roma peoples to be part of the process. It included a
series of 82 regional dialogues organized and facilitated by OHCHR across the country.
About 3,000 delegates from the regions of the Caribbean, Pacific, Orinoco, Amazonia and
inter-Andean valleys participated in the process, which was instrumental in mobilizing
national consensus on the importance of prior, free and informed consultation.
44.
The observations and findings that came out of the process were compiled and
documented by OHCHR in a report entitled “Voices and key opinions from the ethnic
peoples of Colombia on the right to consultation and to free, prior and informed consent”.
OHCHR subsequently engaged with the Ministry of the Interior to encourage the adoption
of protocols that ensure the right to participation, consultation and free and informed
consent through culturally sensitive procedures.
45.
As an important part of that process, some ethnic groups, including the indigenous
Wayuu and Arhuaco peoples and the communities of African descent of La Toma, were
provided with advice to increase their capacity to claim their rights and participate in
decision-making. OHCHR also held training sessions on the right to prior consultation for
staff of the Ministry of the Interior, as well as municipal and regional authorities. Training
on indigenous people’s rights was also provided to civil servants, civil society
representatives and students.
Guatemala: strengthening capacity to guarantee the fulfilment of agricultural
workers’ labour rights
46.
In Guatemala, the OHCHR country office provided technical assistance to the
Ministry of Labour in the preparation of a handbook that could be used to verify the
fulfilment of agricultural workers’ labour rights. It also promoted and supported the
creation of a working group on agricultural workers’ human rights, composed of peasant
workers, grass-roots organizations and labour unions. A participatory methodology
proposed by OHCHR was adopted by the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labour to
launch the process of drafting the handbook. In 2012, four regional workshops were
organized with the participation of 90 labour inspectors, who shared their experience and
discussed the main challenges to respecting agricultural workers’ labour rights in the
country. OHCHR, in coordination with the ILO, provided inputs on the international human
rights standards and supported the process of designing and drafting the handbook, which
was also informed by issues raised by the working group. In 2014, the working group
produced a report on the situation of agricultural workers in Guatemala and urged the
Ministry of Labour to discuss some of the key human rights challenges identified in the
report.
47.
In 2014, the Minister of Labour was finalizing the approval process for the
publication of the handbook as part of a general operations protocol for the General
Inspectorate. The handbook reflects many important aspects of labour rights, such as the
prohibition of child labour and forced labour, and of discrimination against women. The
handbook will be a practical tool for labour inspectors to address the critical human rights
situation that agricultural workers are facing in some regions of Guatemala.
Mexico: increasing participation through action plans
48.
Since 2006, the OHCHR office in Mexico has been supporting the design of human
rights plans, notably in partnership with the Directorate-General for Human Rights Public
Policy of the Ministry of the Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación) at the federal level, and
line ministries or human rights offices at state level. Since 2006, some 15 such plans have
been developed. OHCHR assistance in supporting State efforts to secure the participation of
civil society organizations and marginalized groups has been especially appreciated.
Women’s rights organizations were actively involved in the development of those plans, all
12
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents