Report of the Director-General - Seventh Supplementary Report: Report of the committee set up to examine the representation alleging non-observance by Argentina of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), made under article 24 of the ILO Constitution by the Education Workers’ Union of Río Negro (UNTER), local section affiliated to the Confederation of Education Workers of Argentina (CTERA)

Seventh Supplementary Report: Report of the committee set up to examine the representation alleging non-observance by Argentina of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), made under article 24 of the ILO Constitution by the Education Workers’ Union of Río Negro (UNTER), local section affiliated to the Confederation of Education Workers of Argentina (CTERA)

The Governing Body approved the report which is in document GB.303/19/7 and, in the light of the conclusions contained in paragraphs 60 to 99 of the report:

(a) requested the Government to continue making efforts to strengthen the CPI and ensure that, when elections of indigenous representatives are held in all the provinces, all the indigenous communities and all institutions considered by the communities themselves to be representative are invited to participate;

(b) requested the Government to carry out consultations with regard to the bills referred to in paragraphs 12 and 64 of this report and to establish mechanisms to ensure that consultations with indigenous peoples take place whenever legislative or administrative measures that may directly affect them are being considered. The consultations should be carried out sufficiently early so as to be effective and meaningful;

(c) requested the Government to ensure that, in implementing Act No. 26.160, all communities and truly representative institutions of the indigenous peoples likely to be directly affected are consulted and able to participate;

(d) requested the Government to ensure that, in accordance with the principle of concurrent powers of national and provincial authorities, effective consultation and participation mechanisms are established involving all the truly representative organizations of the indigenous peoples, as set out in paragraphs 75, 76 and 80 of this report, in particular in the process of implementing national Act No. 26.160;

(e) requested the Government in implementing Act No. 26.160 to make substantial efforts, in consultation with and with the participation of the indigenous people of Río Negro Province, to clarify: (1) the difficulties in the procedures for regularizing land, with a view to developing a rapid and accessible procedure that meets the requirements of Article 14, paragraph 3, of the Convention; (2) the question of the levy for land use referred to in paragraph 92 of the representation; (3) any problems in obtaining legal personality; and (4) the issue of dispersed communities and their land rights;

(f) requested the Government to make efforts to ensure that measures are adopted in Río Negro Province, including interim measures, with the participation of the indigenous people involved, to ensure that indigenous stockbreeders have easy access to marks and signs certificates and carry on their activities in conditions of equality, and to strengthen that activity in accordance with the terms of Article 23 of the Convention;

(g) invited the Government to provide information to the Office regarding the implementation of the issues raised above, for examination by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.

The Governing Body adopted the report, in particular paragraph 100, and declared the present proceedings closed.

(Document GB.303/19/7, paragraphs 100 and 101.)