E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.3 page 8 and indigenous people. Its mandate was to investigate “the historical events in our country and to make recommendations for a new State policy”. The Commission submitted its report, conclusions and proposals for reconciliation and a new deal between indigenous people and Chilean society in October 2003. Constitutional recognition of indigenous rights is still pending, as is the country’s adoption of international standards in this respect, as the bills submitted by the executive to Congress have been blocked by the majority in the Senate. III. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN CHILE: PRIORITY ISSUES 16. Poverty and indigenous origins are closely correlated in Chile. The majority of indigenous people, particularly the Mapuche in Araucanía, suffer from high levels of poverty and low levels of human development as a result of their long history of discrimination and social exclusion, particularly during the military dictatorship. Indigenous people and poverty in Chile The incidence of poverty is significantly higher among indigenous populations (35.6 per cent) than among non-indigenous populations (22.7 per cent). On average, indigenous families’ income is less than half that of non-indigenous families. School attendance among indigenous children is 2.2 years less than the average for non-indigenous children (9.5 years) and only 3 per cent of the rural Mapuche population over the age of 15 have any post-secondary education. Only 41 per cent of indigenous people’s homes have drains, 58 per cent running water and 65 per cent mains electricity. The infant mortality rate among indigenous peoples is above average, particularly in rural areas, where it exceeds 50 per cent in some municipalities. Source: World Bank, August 2001. 17. The great challenge now is to strike a balance between the country’s economic and social development and the protection of the right of indigenous communities to an ethnic identity. The exclusion, discrimination and denial from which the indigenous people of Chile have historically suffered have also prevented them from taking an active part as citizens in the democratic transformation of the country. The participatory mechanisms envisaged in the Indigenous Peoples Act have not had the desired result; nor have they managed to expand opportunities for autonomy as demanded by many indigenous groups.