North Atlantic Autonomous Region Research Articles

Integrating traditional indigenous medicine and western biomedicine into health systems: a review of Nicaraguan health policies and miskitu health services

Throughout the world, indigenous peoples have advocated for the right to retain their cultural beliefs and traditional medicine practices. In 2007, the more than 370 million people representing 5000 distinct groups throughout the world received global recognition with the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). UNDRIP Article 24 affirms the rights of indigenous peoples to their traditional medicines and health practices, and to all social and health services. Although not a legally binding agreement, UNDRIP encourages nation states to comply and implement measures to support and uphold its provisions. Within the context of indigenous health and human rights, Nicaragua serves as a unique case study for examining implementation of UNDRIP Article 24 provisions due to the changes in the Nicaraguan Constitution that strive for the overarching goal of affirming an equal right to health for all Nicaraguans and supporting the integration of traditional medicine and biomedicine at a national and regional level. To explore this subject further, we conducted a review of the policy impact of UNDRIP on health services accessible to the Miskitu indigenous peoples of the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN). We found that although measures to create therapeutic cooperation are woven into Nicaraguan health plans at the national and regional level, in practice, the delivery of integrated health services has been implemented with varying results. Our review suggests that the method of policy implementation and efforts to foster intercultural collaborative approaches involving respectful community engagement are important factors when attempting to assess the effectiveness of UNDRIP implementation into national health policy and promoting traditional medicine access. In response, more study and close monitoring of legislation that acts to implement or align with UNDRIP Article 24 is necessary to ensure adequate promotion and access to traditional medicines and health services for indigenous populations in Nicaragua and beyond.

Molecular Analysis of Chloroquine and Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine Resistance-Associated Alleles in Plasmodium falciparum Isolates from Nicaragua

Chloroquine (CQ) is used as a first-line therapy for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Nicaragua. We investigated the prevalence of molecular markers associated with CQ and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) resistance in P. falciparum isolates obtained from the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. Blood spots for this study were made available from a CQ and SP drug efficacy trial conducted in 2005 and also from a surveillance study performed in 2011. Polymorphisms in P. falciparum CQ resistance transporter, dihydrofolate reductase, and dihydropteroate synthase gene loci that are associated with resistance to CQ, pyrimethamine, and sulfadoxine, respectively, were detected by DNA sequencing. In the 2005 dataset, only 2 of 53 isolates had a CQ resistance allele (CVIET), 2 of 52 had a pyrimethamine resistance allele, and 1 of 49 had a sulfadoxine resistance allele. In the 2011 dataset, none of 45 isolates analyzed had CQ or SP resistance alleles.

MÉTODOS DE ENSEÑANZA DE FÍSICA, MODALIDAD A DISTANCIA EN EL INSTITUTO SABATINO “ESPERANZA”, MUNICIPIO DE SIUNA

Este estudio realizado durante el 2011 caracteriza los métodos de enseñanza en Física con estudiantes del cuarto año, modalidad a distancia en el Instituto sabatino “Esperanza”, barrio “Sol de Libertad”, municipio de Siuna, Región Autónomas Atlántico Norte (RAAN). Fue cualitativo y describe los métodos de enseñanza aplicados en Física. Se realizaron entrevistas, revisión documental y observación directa. Según los resultados, el docente es graduado en Ciencias de la Educación con mención en Biología, una profesión afín con la Física. El método que el docente aplica es predominantemente expositivo que es apropiado, pero se abusa de él así como de los mismos materiales didácticos como textos, pizarra, tizas, en ocasiones papelógrafos.SummaryThis study conducted in 2011 characterizes the teaching methods in Physics with fourth year students, through distance learning at the “Esperanza” Sabbath Institute, located in the “Sol de Libertad” neighborhood, municipality of Siuna, North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN). The investigation was qualitative and it describes the teaching methods applied in Physics. Interviews, document review, and direct observation were carried out. According to the results, the teacher has a degree in Science Education with a major in Biology, a profession related to Physics. The method that is applied by the teacher is predominantly expositive, which is appropriate, but he abuses of it as well as of the teaching materials such as texts, blackboard, chalk, and sometimes flipcharts.

ECONOMÍA INDÍGENA EN LA COMUNIDAD DE WASAKÍN, MUNICIPIO DE ROSITA, RAAN

Se presenta el estudio de caso: Economía Indígena de Wasakín, municipio de Rosita, Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte (RAAN), a 480 Km al noreste de Managua, Nicaragua. La población está constituida por seis familias tuahka, el resto están enlazados con la etnia tuahka y mísquitu. La población aproximada es de 2,100 habitantes, conformados por 185 familias, prevalece la identidad tuahka y mískitu. Se asentaron aproximadamente en 1733 en el río Bambana, a 13.5 Km. de la ciudad de Rosita en el reinado de Eduardo I (1728-1762). Se identificaron el modelo de economía, las actividades productivas, cultura, la percepción del pueblo en referencia al modelo de su economía. La investigación fue cualitativa con métodos de la Antropología Cultural. Los habitantes viven de la agricultura rudimentaria, madera, ganadería, artesanía de bambú y servicios de medicina tradicional, comercio, caza, pesca y recolección. Existe pobreza y el Estado ha fomentado tradicionalmente el paternalismo con donaciones realizadas por cada gobierno.SummaryWe present a case study on Indigenous economy in Wasakin, municipality of Rosita, North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), located at 480 km northeast of Managua, Nicaragua. The population is constituted by six Tuahka families, the rest are linked with the Tuahka-Miskitu ethnic group. The population is approximately 2,100 people, made ​​up of 185 families; the tuahka and miskitu identity prevails. These families settled approximately in 1733 in the Bambana River, at 13.5 km from the city of Rosita, during the reign of Edward I (1728-1762). The economic model was identified, as well as the productive activities, culture, and the perception of the people in reference to its economic model. The research was qualitative and linked with methods of cultural anthropology. The people live from the rudimentary agriculture, wood, cattle-raising, bamboo crafts, traditional medicine services, trade, hunting, fishing and gathering. There is poverty and the State has traditionally fostered paternalism with donations made by each government.

Situation Report

Awas Tingni is a Sumu-Mayangna community located in the municipality of Waspam. The name Awas Tingni means blood-waterarm, a name which the elders also used for the Pine River, which is situated 100 kilometres from the city of Bilwi-Puerto Cabezas in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), Nicaragua. It is a Sumu-Mayangna village that uses the Panamhka dialect. The community of Awas Tingni consists of a population of 1,850, living in 305 families residing in 286 houses, the majority of whom belong to the Moravian Church. The community has a primary school, and a secondary school which students can attend for 3 years, with the costs of secondary education being met by the community’s own funds. As regards health care, the community has a clinic staffed by one nurse who attends to common illnesses, with a few scarce medicines for people in need. Normal 0 false false false EN-NZ ZH-CN X-NONE

Fighting Tradition

This article concerns gender violence against indigenous Miskitu women in Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) by examining how violence toward RAAN women is linked not only to culturally-based perceptions of love and marriage, but also to disruptive gender relations caused by neoliberal economic policies of the state and the lack of justice accessible to women through Nicaraguan customary law (derecho indígena o consuetudinario). The second part of the article reveals that RAAN women are beginning to view gender violence as criminal behaviour, especially when their children are the victims of aggressors. Increasingly, women are seeking justice for themselves and their daughters through the national system of justice and through governmental and non-governmental organizations. Conclusions suggest that while multiple and convergent cultural, economic, and politico-juridical factors have generated and institutionalized intra-familial violence in Miskitu society, recent changes will de-centre the normalization of violence within the next generation.

Decentralisation and devolution in Nicaragua’s North Atlantic autonomous region: Natural resources and indigenous peoples’ rights

<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;" lang="EN-GB">A number of governments, particularly in Latin America, have begun to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples and traditional communities to the lands on which they live. Recognition has often taken the form of constitutional provisions or laws that grant use rights in perpetuity or provide land titles. These provisions usually establish rights for multiple communities over a large territory, at a scale that may be ideal for promoting broader, ecosystem management approaches. At the same time, however, indigenous communities often do not have existing territorial governance structures at these scales. Nicaragua’s North Atlantic Autonomous Region provides a rich setting in which to study issues of multilevel natural resource governance. In addition to the devolution policies that have created official indigenous territories, the central government has decentralised important powers over natural resources to the regional autonomous authority, while municipal authorities still exist but have been marginalised. At the same time, however, the community scale is the one at which local people have traditionally managed resources. This paper examines these issues in light of efforts to establish democratic governance institutions at the territory level and argues that communities continue to lose out under multilevel governance regimes without concerted efforts to level the playing field. The findings are based on several years of research in the region, emerging research on newly titled territories and a six month training and dialogue with territory leaders, organised by a consortium of international and local NGOs.</span>

Decentralisation and devolution in Nicaragua’s North Atlantic autonomous region: Natural resources and indigenous peoples’ rights

<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;" lang="EN-GB">A number of governments, particularly in Latin America, have begun to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples and traditional communities to the lands on which they live. Recognition has often taken the form of constitutional provisions or laws that grant use rights in perpetuity or provide land titles. These provisions usually establish rights for multiple communities over a large territory, at a scale that may be ideal for promoting broader, ecosystem management approaches. At the same time, however, indigenous communities often do not have existing territorial governance structures at these scales. Nicaragua’s North Atlantic Autonomous Region provides a rich setting in which to study issues of multilevel natural resource governance. In addition to the devolution policies that have created official indigenous territories, the central government has decentralised important powers over natural resources to the regional autonomous authority, while municipal authorities still exist but have been marginalised. At the same time, however, the community scale is the one at which local people have traditionally managed resources. This paper examines these issues in light of efforts to establish democratic governance institutions at the territory level and argues that communities continue to lose out under multilevel governance regimes without concerted efforts to level the playing field. The findings are based on several years of research in the region, emerging research on newly titled territories and a six month training and dialogue with territory leaders, organised by a consortium of international and local NGOs.</span>

Decentralization and forest-related conflicts in Latin America

Forestry decentralization and devolution reforms involve the transfer of rights, resources and responsibilities related to the governance of forest resources. One of the consequences of these reforms is a reconfiguration of the patterns of interactions between multiple governance actors, which may create friction as actors with different interests shift positions within the governance structure. These shifts may imply important differences with regards to access to power, information, and flows of benefits from forest resources. In this paper, we explore how forestry decentralization affects the propensity for forest-related conflict among forest governance actors. We draw on qualitative field research from the North Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua to develop a set of hypotheses about the effect of decentralization on conflict. We argue that decentralization generates conflict and that lack of transparency and accountability in reform processes further contributes to more conflict. We hypothesize that over time, under effective decentralization reforms, increases in both transparency and accountability will lead to a decline in conflict. We then test these hypotheses with empirical data from interviews with local governance actors in Bolivia and Peru, two countries with contrasting degrees of forestry sector decentralization. The quantitative analysis finds that there is no clear relationship between decentralization, transparency or accountability and the prevalence of conflict. These findings lead us to conclude that the prevalence of conflict alone is not a particularly instructive indicator of forest governance performance and suggest that future research should pursue a better understanding of how decentralization may alter the nature of conflicts.

From Home to Hospital: Mistreatment of Childbearing Women and Barriers to Facility-Based Birth in Nicaragua

Worldwide, women continue to die during childbirth despite efforts to reduce maternal mortality. Nicaragua, particularly the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), possesses extremely high rates of maternal mortality. It has been suggested that promoting facility-based birth is an effective method to reduce maternal mortality through providing essential obstetric and emergency obstetric care to the most women. A significant barrier to increasing rates of facility-based birth globally is mistreatment of women patients in health care settings. This case report illustrates the mistreatment of childbearing women during facility-based birth in the RAAN, including verbal abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and use of unnecessary medical interventions.

Making the ‘rules of the game’: Constituting territory and authority in Nicaragua's indigenous communities

Indigenous communities, particularly in Latin America, are increasingly winning recognition of rights to lands and forests that they have managed or used historically under customary institutions. If property refers to ‘the rules of the game’, this article uses the constitution of indigenous communal territories in Nicaragua to examine the process of ‘making the rules’. Specifically, the recognition of rights by central governments leads to political contestations over both territory and authority as communities and indigenous political leaders vie for different configurations of both lands and new territorial authorities. That is, the process of constituting large collective territories is intimately related to the constitution of authority, as it involves not only the negotiation of physical boundaries but also the recognition of an existing authority structure – or the creation of a new entity – to represent the beneficiaries. In Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region, then, the decision over ‘which configuration of territory’ is ultimately a political negotiation over which ‘authority’ will have the right to control and enforce access to which rights and benefits from land and natural resources.

Land conflict and Mayangna territorial rights in Nicaragua's Bosawás reserve

Abstract— This paper examines conflicts over land and resources in Nicaragua's Bosawás rainforest reserve between Mestizos and Mayangna Indian people. Mestizos are people of mixed Indian and European descent who speak Spanish and do not consider themselves to be Indians. Bosawás is one of the last refuges of the Mayangna indigenous group and is also the largest area of protected tropical rainforest in Central America. The Mayangna village of Sikilta, in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, is used to illustrate the nature of land conflicts in the region. Such conflicts–between economic development and conservation, between livelihoods and conservation, and between peasant livelihoods and indigenous territorial rights–are symptomatic of rainforest areas in other parts of the world. Land conflicts in Bosawás are examined within the broader economic, political and institutional context. Potential solutions to land conflict in Sikilta are explored. The paper illustrates the complexities surrounding the demarcation and upholding of indigenous land rights. It highlights the institutional complexities and weaknesses which have allowed Sikilta's land problem to go unresolved. It is argued that until national problems of unequal access to land and unsustainable forms of forest use are addressed, communities like Sikilta will continue to suffer invasion of their land.

Land conflict and Mayangna territorial rights in Nicaragua's Bosawás reserve

This paper examines conflicts over land and resources in Nicaragua's Bosawás rainforest reserve between Mestizos and Mayangna Indian people. Mestizos are people of mixed Indian and European descent who speak Spanish and do not consider themselves to be Indians. Bosawás is one of the last refuges of the Mayangna indigenous group and is also the largest area of protected tropical rainforest in Central America. The Mayangna village of Sikilta, in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, is used to illustrate the nature of land conflicts in the region. Such conflicts-between economic development and conservation, between livelihoods and conservation, and between peasant livelihoods and indigenous territorial rights-are symptomatic of rainforest areas in other parts of the world. Land conflicts in Bosawás are examined within the broader economic, political and institutional context. Potential solutions to land conflict in Sikilta are explored. The paper illustrates the complexities surrounding the demarcation and upholding of indigenous land rights. It highlights the institutional complexities and weaknesses which have allowed Sikilta's land problem to go unresolved. It is argued that until national problems of unequal access to land and unsustainable forms of forest use are addressed, communities like Sikilta will continue to suffer invasion of their land.

Grassroots peacework in Nicaragua

Two regions of Nicaragua, Nueva Guinea in the southeast and the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), were areas of heavy conflict during the contra war. In response, commissions were formed to ...

National Forest Programme developed in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, RAAN

DOI: 10.5377/wani.v58i0.200Wani No.58 2009 pp.5-15

Los acuerdos de Esquipulas y los derechos del pueblo costeño

En este artículo, su autor afirma que, a pesar de que los acuerdos de paz y democracia de Esquipulas I y II impulsaron la autonomía de la Costa, sin embargo, esa voluntad política no se hizo extensiva a otros aspectos contemplados, entre éstos, la efectiva reintegración de los municipios de El Rama, Nueva Guinea, Muelle de los Bueyes y el Ayote a la Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur, y Mulukukú y Waslala a la RAAN. Así como también la lucha contra la pobreza, la desigualdad, la exclusión de pueblos indígenas y pueblos afrodescendientes, y otros graves problemas sociales y económicos que fueron las verdaderas causas y trasfondo de los conflictos armados que por tantos años habían enlutado a los pueblos centroamericanos, entre ellos, los pueblos indígenas de la Costa. DOI: 10.5377/wani.v56i0.225Wani No.56 2007 pp.61-67Kus tawanni ramhni balna dawak Esquipulas kau la balna ahana kidika. Adika uhulna akat, ulna daniwan yaklauwi yulwi, Esquipulas I dawak II kau, la balna uhulwi yayakna pas yakat uhulna dai war dis pri lani kat bang atnin yulni dawak pri lani kat ma ramhki balna yulna atnin kaput bik kus kau alas lani kat yalahnin lani balna yulni bik uhulna dai, kaunah adika dini balna bitik kidika kapat laihwi yayamwas dadana, as as yuldi yakdarang kat laih, sauni sahwi yakna balna El Rama, Nueva Guinea, Muelle de los Bueyes, dawak Ayote atwa balna kidika, ma sauki sahwi yakna nuhni Atlantik Kus Wadah saitni yakat duwi uiwi pakna atnin dai, dawak Mulukuku, Waslala karak laih, ma sauki sahwi yakna nuhni Atlantik Kus tingpal saitni yakat duwi uiwi pakna atnin dai. Kaput bik muih miniknakunni palni bang kidi yakat bik kalpararaswaski, bu as as kat uba yamni bangki dawak baisa mahni kau kidika laih dutni palni bangki, muih sasani balna dawak indian balna kidika witingna pasnina yakat awi duduwaski alas dadawakat bangki, kaput bik, witingna ampat bang kidi tranibil dawak lalah walwi yaknin tranibil balna bitik yulni kuduh biri biri arakbus karak kal ihiwi uina dai kurih mahni kau dawak Centroamerica bitik pas yakat muih mahni palni dadauna dai, kaput adika pas yakan bangki kus indianni tawanni balna bik.