Did you know that Mexico has an indigenous population of 11.1 million people which is almost 10 percent of Mexico’s population? Of this population only 40 percent of Indigenous Peoples have access to 4G coverage according to the diagnoses of Mobile Service Coverage in Indigenous Peoples of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) and the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI). Although Indigenous Peoples have access to some kind of mobile coverage, that does not mean they are subscribed or have effective access to the service and its benefits. Furthermore, not having 4G networks means not having fast internet or access to applications, content and services relevant to their communities. There is still a lack of effective connectivity, specifically internet connectivity
According to the Inter American Development Bank, “those who have access to these tools can quickly position themselves within the new rules of the market and globalization, and those who do not are left at a disadvantage.» This is certainly the case of Indigenous Peoples.
For this reason, Equitable Origin and its partners in Mexico: the Red Indígena de Turismo (RITA) and the Consejo Regional Indigena y popular de Xpujil (CRIPX) have begun launching e-learning initiatives to help Indigenous Peoples strengthen their skills and knowledge on a variety of relevant and important topics such as:
- Communications.
- Digital literacy.
- Community Development with Identity in the face of the COVID-19 Crisis and presentation of CEFO Indígena México.
- The rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- Biocultural relations, traditional knowledge and practices.
- The Rights of Indigenous Women.
- Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
- Development and territorial governance in indigenous peoples.
- Ceremonies, festivities and expressions of the Indigenous culture.
- Copyright and intellectual property, Biocultural Community Protocols.
Through these workshops, Indigenous participants will have the opportunity to exchange their experiences, questions and ideas. These seminars seek to generate an intercultural dialogue between Indigenous Peoples and their conceptions about the ways to exercise their rights, generate alliances and strengthen the mechanisms of care.
In December 2020, Equitable Origin and CRIPX launched the first workshop, “How to Elaborate Impactful Audiovisual Content”, where four Indigenous communicators participated for a total of five hours. During this workshop, the participants learned the basics of preparing scripts for video interviews, how to use a camera and record effectively and how to edit a video. As part of their final evaluation, the communicators prepared and edited a video interview explaining the importance of internet and connectivity in their community. In late January 2021, EO and RITA are planning to launch a seminar focused on “Strengthening Indigenous Rights.” Around 30-50 Indigenous leaders from Mexico plan to attend. Stay tuned for more information on our E-Learning activities.