As the United Nations prepares to review Mexico’s human rights recordin November, civil societyorganizations in Oaxaca publish their own evaluation,from one of the states with the highest number of violations in the country. In the following series Educa, a contributor to the report, summarizes its main findings:
While Oaxaca does not provide concentrated, precise and transparent information on the situation of the rights of children and adolescents as required by state law, official datashows that this sector of the population suffers from insufficient access to the education, health, food and welfare resources to which they are entitled.
According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy, Oaxaca is one of four Mexican states with the largest proportion of children and adolescents livingin poverty—over 70% in 2014. In extreme cases, the right to life is not guaranteed:36.1% of the population under 18 lives in food poverty and 1 of every 3 children is susceptible to malnutrition, leading to 51 deaths from 2016 – 2017. The situation is most direin marginalized municipalities, where 9 out of 10 people from 0 to 17 years old find themselves in situations of poverty, and half in extreme poverty.
This translates into a significant gap in social development: In 2016, 27.3% of the population of Oaxaca had an educational lag. 3 of every 10 girls and boys in Oaxaca have no guaranteed access to education. For decades the lack of educational infrastructure in rural municipalities has violated young peoples’ right to live with their families.
In order to exercise their right to education, many children and adolescents must leave their families to live in accommodations operated by the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples. There they often live in deteriorated facilities where food quality is poor, medical care is lacking, and they are more likely to suffer physical and psychological violence. The Commission documented violations of the fundamental rights of 559 children in such facilities.
Oaxaca’s Local System for the Integral Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents (SIPINNA) has no clear budget or work plan, and has repeatedly failed to denounce serious violation of children’s rights.
Download: Under attack. Human Rights in Oaxaca 2013-2018. Citizen report (PDF, 32 pp.)
