Indigenous peoples made significant social progress, experienced a reduction in poverty levels in several countries and gained improved access to basic services during the boom of the first decade of the century, but they did not benefit to the same extent as the rest of Latin Americans, according to a new World Bank study. The study notes that thanks to a combination of economic growth and good social policies, poverty of indigenous households decreased in countries like Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador, while in others, such as Ecuador, Mexico and Nicaragua, the educational gap that for decades excluded indigenous children was closed. However, the report points out that, despite these gains, many gaps remain, as indigenous peoples continue to be confronted with glass ceilings and structural barriers that limit their full social and economic inclusion. While indigenous peoples make up 8 percent of the population in the region, they represent approximately 14 percent of the poor and 17 percent of the extremely poor in Latin America. Also, they still face challenges to gain access to basic services and the adoption of new technologies, a key aspect of increasingly globalized societies.
