• Wednesday, January 19, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Indigenous children under five in Peru's highlands regions still bear the brunt of chronic malnutrition, even though local authorities in those areas received millions of dollars worth of taxes between 2006 and 2010 from the mining companies operating there.

Two studies by the Peruvian office of the United Nations children's fund, UNICEF, titled 'Estado de la Niñez Indígena en el Perú' (The State of Indigenous Children in Peru), published in 2010, and 'Estado de la Niñez en el Perú' (The State of Children in Peru), to be released in the next few weeks, show that chronic malnutrition was significantly reduced in rural areas between 2005 and 2009, from 40 to 33 percent.

But when the statistics are broken down, it becomes clear that malnutrition was reduced to a much lesser extent among indigenous children, even though that population group is a stated priority of the policies of the government of Alan García, in office since 2006. The national chronic malnutrition rate for children under five is 18 percent.

But in the Andean region of Huancavelica in southern Peru, 56 percent of all children under five are indigenous, and 43 percent of the native children suffer from chronic malnutrition. And in the neighbouring region of Apurímac, 61 percent of children are Indians, and 29 percent of them are chronically malnourished, a problem that leads to stunted physical and intellectual growth.

Huancavelica and Apurímac obtained relatively limited revenues from the 'canon minero' tax paid by the mining companies between 2006 and 2010 -- 29.5 and 17 million dollars, respectively, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance -- which could help explain the limited progress made.

But it is much more surprising that chronic malnutrition levels remain so high in the region of Cuzco, which took in 212.5 million dollars in mining taxes in that period:. In that region, 45 percent of children under five are indigenous, and 32 percent of them are chronically malnourished, according to UNICEF.

And Cuzco is not the only case. The Andean region of Ancash in northwestern Peru and the altiplano region of Puno in the southeast took in 1.28 billion and 238.6 million dollars, respectively, the Ministry of Economy and Finance figures show. But the funds have had little impact on indigenous children.

In Ancash, where 29 percent of children are indigenous, 23 percent of them suffer from chronic malnutrition (showing below normal weight and height for age). And in Puno, where 49 percent of children are indigenous, 20 percent are malnourished.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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