Wayúu Multidimensional Registry

It is a statistical data collection exercise carried out with the Wayúu people. The first of its kind in Colombia. Its purpose is to understand the ways of life, customs, and well-being conditions of this indigenous people, with special attention to their children. This registry is conducted in the municipalities of Manaure, Maicao, Uribia, and Riohacha, in La Guajira, by mandate of the Constitutional Court of Colombia through ruling T-302 of 2017.

Because a census is an operation carried out only once and shows the state of the population at a specific moment in time; the registry, on the other hand, is a living tool that can be updated over time. In addition, to understand the living conditions of the Wayúu people, information was also collected from people who are not part of this indigenous group but who live in the same household.

Because it integrates key aspects related to fundamental rights protected and ruled upon by the Constitutional Court (health, water, food, and mobility) in order to understand the realities of the Wayúu people. This information serves as a baseline for entities such as the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Ministry of Housing, City and Territory, and the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, among others, for the formulation of public policies. In addition, it includes tools to identify basic needs and gathers contributions made by this indigenous people through a process of consultation and genuine dialogue.

It originated in response to ruling T-302 of 2017 issued by the Constitutional Court, which called for improving information about the Wayúu people so that the Colombian State could formulate and implement better public policies guaranteeing a series of fundamental rights protected by the ruling, since the Court indicated that some institutional interventions were not functioning satisfactorily in favor of this indigenous people.

It asks about aspects related to the living conditions of the Wayúu people, such as access to drinking water, health services, food, births, deaths, diseases, displacement, among other topics. All of this makes it possible to have updated information about this indigenous population, as well as their real needs and the way they live, so that the Colombian State can generate actions aimed at improving their quality of life.

As this was the first statistical exercise applied to an indigenous population, the Wayúu people actively participated, through their ancestral and traditional authorities and other sociocultural roles, in the design and implementation of the surveys. To achieve this, DANE, sensitive to genuine dialogue and respect for the autonomy and self-determination of this indigenous people, advanced a direct contracting process with Wayúu organizations so that members of their own population could conduct and supervise the surveys. This also ensured the use of their native language, Wayuunaiki, to guarantee understanding of the questionnaire.