Bolivia has the highest percentage of indigenous peoples in Latin America (62% according to UNDP, 2006). Of the indigenous peoples, it is estimated that the majority are Quechua (50.3%) and Aymara (39.8%). To a lesser degree, although distributed across extensive territories, are lowland peoples such as the Chiquitano (3.6%) and Guaraní (2.5%). The departments of La Paz, Cochabamba, Potosí, Oruro and Chuquisaca have the highest indigenous concentration.
The Bolivian Republic was founded in the 19th century behind the backs of the indigenous peoples, who constituted more than 90% of the total population. More recently, in 1938, the constitutions began to formally recognise indigenous communities. The agrarian reform of the 1950s was designed to put an end to the system of large estates, or latifundios, in the Andean high plateau, but at the same time encouraged the penetration and dispossession of Eastern peoples.
Bolivia ratified Convention No. 169 in 1991, and in 1994, the Constitution recognised the “multiethnic and multicultural” nature of the Republic. The constitutional reforms of 2004 recognised indigenous peoples’ right to present candidates directly, recognising them as political and social actors in their own right. Other national regulations recognise indigenous rights to their native communal lands, to a share of natural resource profits, the right to consultation, etc. Bolivia also made the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples binding as national law, and the 2006-2007 constitutional process included a high level of indigenous participation. Indigenous peoples have demanded the inclusion of First Nations in the State’s new pact, defining Bolivia as a multinational State.
Notwithstanding the legal changes, the political scene in Bolivia is highly complex, as certain sectors are staunchly resistant to the effective implementation of indigenous rights. This is why it is so important to initiate sweeping intercultural dialogue so that together, society can reach democratic agreements on plural coexistence.
Indigenous groups have gained strength in recent decades, reclaiming their identity as indigenous peoples and First Nations, and increasing their levels of organisation and participation. There are currently 5 major indigenous centres grouping the lowland and highland peoples, landless peasants and women.
The ILO has carried out training activities on the right to consultation. Furthermore, the ILO has included Bolivia in its forced labour and child labour eradication programmes.