Lima, Aug. 21, 2008.- With the designation of all the delegates to the Consultative Council of the Andean Community Indigenous Peoples, the four CAN Member Countries completed the procedures for setting up and putting into operation this advisory body that is intended to promote more active participation by the indigenous peoples in the Andean integration process.

This news was announced in Lima today by Andean Community Secretary General Freddy Ehlers, after the Foreign Ministries of the four Andean countries completed the official accreditation of the delegates of the indigenous organizations (two per country) who will represent them on the Consultative Council. 

After stressing the importance of this fact, Ehlers explained that the delegates --one delegate and one alternate delegate per country-- were elected from among the highest-level executives of the national indigenous organizations, using procedures and methods defined by each CAN Member Country, as stipulated in Decision 674 creating that Council.

He stated that the CAN General Secretariat, which will perform the functions of the Council’s Technical Secretariat, is in a position to shortly convene the initial session installing the Consultative Council, which is expected to give a significant boost to the participation of the indigenous peoples.   

Ehlers explained that this Council has the same functions as the business and labor consultative bodies within the framework of the Andean Integration System and therefore may express its opinion to the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers, the Commission or the Andean Community General Secretariat and may attend meetings of government experts or working groups dealing with matters connected with its activities, among other things. 

The following regional organizations will be represented in the capacity of observers:  the Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean; the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations in the Amazon Basin (COICA); the Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI); and the Continental Liaison Office for Indigenous Women in South America.

The Andean Council of Foreign Ministers created the Consultative Council of the Andean Community Indigenous Peoples on September 26, 2007 “to promote the active participation of the indigenous peoples in economic, social, cultural and political matters relating to subregional integration.”