Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Information received from El Salvador on follow-up to the concluding observations on its combined eighteenth and nineteenth periodic reports *

[Date received: 4 June 2021]

Follow-up information relating to paragraph 17 (a) and (c) of the concluding observations (CERD/C/SLV/CO/18-19)

1.The following information is provided in response to the recommendations contained in paragraph 17:

(a)In 2017, a written submission calling for a constitutional amendment providing for recognition of the population of African descent was submitted to the Legislative Assembly by an association of persons of African descent. The amendment is still under discussion. As a new Legislative Assembly was elected on 28 February, this matter will have to be taken up again with this State body;

(b)Following the latest reorganization of the Ministry of Culture, the former Department for Indigenous Peoples has become the Directorate-General for Multiculturalism, which, as part of its new mandate, addresses Afrodescendent affairs and the promotion of the rights of persons of African descent.

Follow-up information relating to paragraph 19 (a), (b) and (c) of the concluding observations

2.The following information is provided in response to the recommendations contained in paragraph 19:

(a)With regard to the ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), only a few studies have been carried out with a view to initiating discussions with the relevant bodies of the executive branch;

(b)The National Action Plan for Indigenous Peoples has been adopted, as has the Public Policy for the Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador and, in the same year, the Indigenous Health Policy. All three documents were adopted by the previous Government. Under the current Government, the three documents have been revisited and used to establish the National Policy for Indigenous Peoples. Owing to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, only crisis response measures, such as food distribution in indigenous communities, have been implemented. Depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, the National Directorate for Multiculturalism will be resuming its work on the National Policy for Indigenous Peoples;

(c)In November 2017, a proposal for a law on the rights of indigenous peoples was submitted by a group of indigenous organizations in a clear exercise of their right to submit proposals. The proposal is currently being discussed by the Legislative Assembly. As the 28 February elections have brought about a change in the Legislative Assembly, the aforementioned proposal, in common with any others that might be submitted, may be examined and consulted in due course on the basis of article 32 of the Culture Act, which provides that the State must establish the means to ensure the participation of indigenous peoples in decisions affecting their rights.