CERD/C/ECU/CO/19 page 5 17. The Committee is concerned that, despite the Constitutional guarantees of the right of the indigenous population to communal ownership of property, the State party does not grant that population security under the law or effective protection against forcible eviction from their ancestral lands (art. 5 (d) (v)). The Committee urges the State party to ensure that the indigenous peoples enjoy effective legal protection against forcible eviction from their ancestral lands, and receive proper compensation if such evictions occur. 18. The Committee is concerned at the limited enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by indigenous peoples and Afro-Ecuadorians, particularly where housing, education, health and employment are concerned, principally as a result of the growing and persistent poverty in the State party (art. 5 (e)). The Committee recommends that the State party should take the necessary steps to assure effective protection against discrimination in various areas, particularly in employment, housing, health and education. It also calls on the State party to include in its next report information on the impact of programmes designed to guarantee economic, social and cultural rights to the indigenous population, as well as statistics on progress made in this regard. 19. While the Committee takes note of recent progress in efforts to combat illiteracy among the indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian population, it continues to be concerned at the high level of illiteracy among the indigenous peoples and Afro-Ecuadorian communities (art. 5 (e) (v)). The Committee encourages the State party to take immediate and medium-term action to ensure the effective implementation of measures to reduce illiteracy among indigenous people and Afro-Ecuadorians. In addition, the State party’s next report should include precise data on the proportion of indigenous people and Afro-Ecuadorians who have access to primary, secondary and university education. 20. While the Committee is pleased to note the introduction of a system of bilingual education in Ecuador, providing instruction to indigenous children in Spanish and in their own languages, it is concerned at the poor application of the bilingual intercultural system in practice (art. 5 (e) (v)). The Committee recommends that the State party should strengthen the legal arrangements underpinning indigenous institutional structures. Specifically, it is recommended that the Department of Bilingual Intercultural Education, the Department for Intercultural Health and the Council of Nationalities (CODENPE) should be given legal status and allocated the necessary resources so that they can perform their functions effectively. 21. While the Committee welcomes the fact that the National Department for the Defence of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is authorized to receive individual and collective complaints, it notes the absence of cases before the domestic courts (art. 6).