Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 2010)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that in the next report full information will be provided on the questions raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the application of the measures regulating the conservation and administration of natural resources in the territories traditionally occupied by indigenous and tribal peoples and action taken for the rehabilitation of the areas of the Indio-Maíz reservation that were affected by the fire in April 2018 (Article 15 of the Convention).

Article 1. Peoples covered by the Convention. The Committee notes that, according to a government press release of April 2024, the Information and Development Institute is currently carrying out the Ninth National Population and Housing Census (CEPOV). The Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date statistical data on the total indigenous and Afro-descendent population and its geographic distribution, as compiled within the framework of the Ninth National Population and Housing Census. In this regard, the Committee encourages the Government to compile and provide statistical data on the socio-economic situation of these peoples (educational level, access to employment, access to healthcare, etc.).

Article 7(3). Environmental assessment of development activities. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to provide information on how indigenous and tribal peoples participate in the evaluation of the social, spiritual, cultural and environmental impact that development projects may have on their territories, on the basis of Decree No. 20-2017, which establishes the system of environmental assessment and authorizations for the sustainable use of natural resources. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide examples of how indigenous and tribal peoples cooperate in the assessment of the social, spiritual, cultural and environmental impact of development projects on their territories, including in the context of the inter-institutional committees established for this purpose under Decree No. 20-2017.

Articles 6 and 7(3). Great Interoceanic Canal of Nicaragua. Impact studies. The Committee notes the adoption of Act No. 1203 of 2024, amending Act No. 800 of 2012 and stipulating that the management of the Great Interoceanic Canal of Nicaragua Authority shall be under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport, a delegate of the Office of the President of the Republic for the Caribbean Coast, and the Investment, Trade and International Cooperation Advisor of the Secretariat of the President’s Office. Under the terms of the Act, the Great Canal is an intercontinental platform for the interoceanic transit of ships and vessels of different sizes which will join together the deep-water ports in the Caribbean and on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. The Canal Authority will be empowered to issue permits for the construction and operation of the Canal in coordination with the competent authorities (section 17) and before their implementation the Canal Authority will be required to ensure the preparation of an environmental impact study (section 20). Regarding environmental permits relating to indigenous territories, free and informed prior consultation with the communities will be necessary, in accordance with Convention No 169 (section 28). The Act also provides that the Canal Authority may call on the persons affected in order to obtain their agreement and that, in the case of the indigenous territories affected, it shall act in accordance with their ancestral customs and in coordination with the indigenous territorial governments (section 34). The Canal Authority shall also undertake development work for the benefit of the affected communities and the indigenous, ethnic, regional and territorial authorities that are concerned in their territories shall be entitled to free and informed prior consultation (section 36).

The Committee notes that a lawsuit against the State of Nicaragua is currently being examined by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the failure to consult indigenous populations on measures approving the authorization of the Great Interoceanic Canal project in Nicaragua, which would affect the territories of the Rama and Kriol peoples.

The Committee recalls that, under Article 7(3) of the Convention, governments shall ensure that studies are carried out, in cooperation with the peoples concerned, to assess the social, spiritual, cultural and environmental impact on them of planned development activities, and that the results of these studies shall be considered as fundamental criteria for the implementation of these activities.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which the cooperation of the indigenous communities is ensured in the process of the assessment of the social, spiritual, cultural and environmental impact of development activities in the context of the Great Interoceanic Canal project. It also requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which indigenous communities are consulted in accordance with sections 28 and 36 of Act No. 800, and on the outcome of these consultations.

Articles 8, 9 and 12. Customary law. Legal proceedings. In relation to the application of section 20 of the Penal Code, which permits the trial of offences committed by members of indigenous peoples on the Caribbean Coast in accordance with their customary law, the Government indicates that there is a programme of judicial facilitators, which is based on action to train the traditional leaders of indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples of the Caribbean Coast and Alto Wangki and Bocay (Wihtas). It indicates that 12 public defenders from indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples have been appointed, who have the function of advising, supporting and representing members of the indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples of the Caribbean Coast in family, civil, labour, criminal and administrative cases before judicial bodies and the traditional authorities.

The Committee also takes due note of the statistical data supplied on the services provided by the judicial authorities for members of the indigenous and Afro-descendent, Kriol, Garífuna, Mayangna, Miskito and Rama peoples. Between 2018 and 2022, support was provided to a total of 22,063 members of these communities. The Government adds that communication and coordination mechanisms have been established between the judicial authorities and the communal authorities (Wihtas).

Article 20. Recruitment and conditions of employment. The Government indicates that, between December 2020 and December 2021, parcels of basic grains and equipment were provided to 57,920 people in 16 departments, two special areas and two territorial areas, which resulted in over 57,920 direct jobs and 100,000 temporary jobs in the agricultural sector. Between 2018 and the first quarter of 2023, a total of 4,449 labour inspections were carried out in the North Caribbean Coast and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regions, and training was provided on labour rights, occupational safety and health with gender equity and the Labour Code in Miskito and Spanish. The Government adds that the National Technical and Technological Institute (INATEC) translated training materials for two agricultural career paths from Spanish into the Mayangna and Miskito languages, which resulted in the certification of 190 students between 2019 and 2023.

The Committee further notes that the Caribbean Coast and Alto Wangki Bocay Development Plan 2019–29 sets out as one of its objectives comprehensive sustainable regional development and the promotion of public and private investment and employment through agreements concluded between the State and private enterprises at the local, regional, national and international levels for the exchange of technologies for the benefit of agricultural producers, under the responsibility of the Autonomous Regional Governments of the Caribbean Coast (GRACC). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to promote employment for persons who are members of indigenous and tribal peoples in the Caribbean Autonomous Regions within the framework of the Development Plan 2019–29. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the employment measures adopted for indigenous peoples located in the North, Central and South Pacific regions.

Articles 24 and 25. Health and social security. The Government indicates that the Institute of Natural Medicine and Complementary Therapies (IMNTC) is continuing to develop the “Plan for the coordination of ancestral traditional medicine”, which has the objective of strengthening coordination capacities between local comprehensive healthcare systems (SILAIS), through which first and second level health units are organized and coordinated and the provision of healthcare and traditional ancestral medicine is monitored. The Government explains that the coordination plan was the subject of consultation with the 12 SILAIS and resulted in formal documents in the native languages of the indigenous communities. Moreover, community health networks have been strengthened through capacity-building, workshops and forums involving traditional doctors and health personnel with a view to exchanging proposals. The Government adds that an ethnic variable has been included in the quantification and monitoring of the health system for indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples, as a result of which it has been possible to quantify the number of patients in the indigenous and Afro-descendent population who received care. Between 2018 and 2023, a total of 1,491,790 patients were treated with natural medicine and complementary therapies at the national level, of whom 6 per cent were from the indigenous and Afro-descendent population. The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to ensure that the peoples covered by the Convention have access to health services that take into account their cultural characteristics, particularly in the case of communities located in remote areas.

Articles 26–31. Education. The Committee duly notes the detailed information provided by the Government on the education available to indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples, the number of students receiving grants by ethnic origin and type of grant, and the detailed statistical data on the number of students receiving certificates, classified by ethnic origin. The Government indicates that 3,581 indigenous bilingual intercultural teachers have been trained in teacher training colleges (Escuelas Normales de la Costa Caribe), 3,000 curricular documents have been disseminated in five indigenous languages of the Caribbean Coast, and that in the context of primary education, 78,531 indigenous students from 15 municipal areas are receiving education in their mother tongue. The Government adds that joint management exists with the community authorities through community education commissions and a regional education commission of the regional councils.

The Committee also notes that the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in its concluding observations of 2023, expressed concern at the high illiteracy and school drop-out rates, the lack of secondary education and the lack of quality bilingual intercultural education for indigenous and Afro-descendent communities (CERD/C/NIC/CO/15-21). The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations of 2024, also noted with concern the high school drop-out rates among indigenous women and girls and women and girls of African descent at the primary and secondary levels and their limited access to higher education in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (CEDAW/C/NIC/CO/7-10).

The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to facilitate the access of indigenous peoples to education and to promote their participation in the design of education programmes at the primary and secondary levels. It also requests the Government to provide information on the school attendance and drop-out rates among students from indigenous communities by comparison with the rest of the population.

Article 30(2). Means of communication. The Committee notes that the Caribbean Coast and Alto Wangki Bocay Development Plan 2019–29, in its first strategic focus area (socio-cultural development), provides for the implementation of a communication plan on communal and territorial land ownership and its mass dissemination in communication media, assemblies and other forums. The Committee also notes that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in its annual report for 2023, reiterated its concern at the shutdown of the indigenous community radio stations Yapti Tasba Bila Baikra Bilwi and Waspam, and confiscation of their facilities, both managed by the YATAMA party, which covered 17 Mayangna and Miskito indigenous territories. The Committee considers that in many cases radios are a particularly relevant communication channel for the dissemination of information on the rights of the peoples covered by the Convention, especially in areas where there are no other communication media. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to promote and support the use by indigenous communities of media in their own languages and in accordance with their cultural identity. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the reasons why the indigenous community radio stations Yapti Tasba Bila Baikra Bilwi and Waspam were shut down.