First ever indigenous One Stop Youth Centre launched in Ecuador

Otavalo, Ecuador 4 May 2023— In recognition of the role El Museo Vivo Otavalango, or the Otavalango Living Museum plays in empowering youth and the community, UN-Habitat recently accredited it as the first-ever indigenous One Stop Youth Resource Centre. The iconic museum was also announced as the first-ever Integrhabitat Centre.

The One Stop is a model youth centre first established in 2002 in Nairobi, that is now spanning Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The One Stop Youth Centre is a partnership between UN-Habitat and local governments and utilises an integrated approach to youth development by providing youth with safe spaces in urban settings where they can meet and access information and resources critical to youth-led development including peacebuilding, research, and policy development. The Centres offer youth-friendly services and contribute to their socio-economic development.

 Integrhabitat centres on the other hand promote social integration and are vehicles of change and community empowerment for inclusive neighborhood transformation, promoting social and spatial cohesion based on new models of co-creation and coexistence in diversity. Otavalango is also a partner in the UN-Habitat Youth 2030 Cities programme promoting the localization of the SDGs by youth.  

 The community of Otavalo (Ecuador) is world famous for its weaving of traditional indigenous fabrics. The Otavalo Textiles and Handcrafts Market, situated in the Plaza de Ponchos (Plaza of Ponchos), dates back to pre-Inca times when the people of Otavalo were celebrated and sought after for their artisanal weaving skills. You can find Otavaleñan merchants in most capitals of the world, identified by their distinctive cultural dress.  

 Today, like many other indigenous cultures, the Otavaleños face the loss of culture, traditional lands, practices, and language. One of the reasons linked to this loss is the shrinking of traditional public spaces that embody the history and culture and community.  

 Mayor Mario Conejo, Otavalo’s first-ever indigenous mayor, is a decade-long champion for advancing and preserving Otavaleñan culture and spaces. At the inaugural Anderan / Turkiye summit held in Balikesir, Turkiye in parallel to World Habitat Day, he presented how the City of Otavalo was seeking to re-establish traditional space. He cited the example of the "Alli Mikuy" – Plaza of Flavors – which will be built on a traditional food marketplace, celebrating and saving the rich cultural history of Otavalo, while expanding the economy of current-day food traders.  

 Another example of space and culture is the Otavalango Living Museum which was created in 2011 to preserve the culture of the indigenous Otavalo people. It is housed in what used to be a Spanish hacienda in 1821, where native Otavaleños were once indentured servants, forced to weave fabrics which were then sold to the benefit of non-indigenous owners.

 In the factory, Otavaleños were forced to work in slave-like conditions with brutal punishments. Today the historic architecture of the museum is preserved, but now to promote Kichwa culture through exhibits including indigenous customs and demonstration of traditional weaving done by the community.  

 “Indigenous peoples need to protect and promote public space so as to retain their cultural traditions,” stated Andres Zambrano, representative of Otavalango, “Whether it is for our young people or the community at large, public spaces hold the history of our communities.”