According to the the Ombudsman’s Office, although the country has tried to establish mechanisms to fight discrimination, public policies in this direction are isolated efforts that remain on the good-intention road.
This consideration joins a call for public institutions and the population to eliminate discriminatory practices or manifestations that generate social division and promote human rights violations.
The most vulnerable people are reported to be in the indigenous, migrant, Afro-descendant, women, children, diverse sexual groups, older adults and people with disabilities.
In this sense, the entity advocated a readjustment of institutional procedures to fit the reality and needs that discriminated population groups face in order to comply with international human rights obligations.
Reports from the Ombudsman’s Office on these vulnerable populations detail shortcomings for Afro-descendants in the absence of recognition of their ancestral land rights in the South Caribbean, the right to maintain their cultural manifestations, lack of attention to diseases of the Afro-descendant population and recognition of their own educational processes.
In the case of migrants, despite the policy in force since 2011, there is still not an Action Plan that indicates the specific procedures to be carried out. Moreover, the Ombudsman’s Office considers that the Migration Law that came into force in 2010 must be reviewed under a human-right approach that is reflected in the requirements and procedures.
Problems for the indigenous population come from conflicts over land, lack of road infrastructure with bridges, roads, essential public services, little access to housing and the need to improve health services.
In the case of women, there are inequality conditions in access to work, salary, housing opportunities and participation in public and political life. Discrimination exists when they are victims of violence, sexual harassment in the educational, labor and social sphere.
Regarding people with disabilities, the Ombudsman’s Office found that despite the existence of a national policy, it does not contain any provisions related to the fight against poverty and social protection, they still have problems to access to the public transport service and discrimination of public space.
In addition, the community of diverse sexual orientation complains about the absence of an act recognizing same-sex marriage, and another act that regulates the issue of gender identity and expression of the transsexual community.
Finally, in the case of older adults, it is necessary to develop a national, aging, policy action plan that allows effective guidelines, evaluation procedures for social benefits, as well as evaluations of demographic trends in order to reduce inequalities.