A/HRC/4/32/Add.2 page 16 F. Social welfare indicators 52. The Ministry of Housing states that Ecuador has a major deficit of some 1.1 million houses. The supply of drinking water and the collection and disposal of solid waste are also in a state of crisis. The Government has proposed to solve these problems by 70 per cent over the next 15 years, but it lacks the necessary resources. A 2004 survey on indigenous health shows that the percentage of indigenous people with access to piped water is three times less than the rest of the population, as is the case with access to domestic sanitary facilities connected to mains sewerage. In all, 23 per cent of indigenous homes lack sufficient food and 36 per cent find it difficult to meet food costs (this figure is higher than among mestizos). Indigenous child mortality (aged under five) is 50 per cent greater than the national average (51 per thousand live births compared to 35 per thousand). Chronic malnutrition among indigenous children is more than double that of mestizo children (46.7 per cent compared to 21.2 per cent). 53. DNSPI states that indigenous health has not received the attention it deserves under the Government’s general policies. The problem is acknowledged, as is the need to take steps to resolve it, but the necessary resources are not allocated. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are together promoting 93 indigenous health initiatives designed to ensure that the Government’s health model is properly intercultural. Only 0.25 per cent of the total State budget is allocated to this area. 54. The Andean Regional Office of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has developed a programme focusing on indigenous women, in particular on combating poverty, exclusion and violence; promoting gender equality in democratic processes and citizenship-building; and fighting against HIV/AIDS, through, among other measures, a project in Sucumbíos and another with indigenous migrant women from the highlands. G. Indigenous political participation and social movements 55. An intercultural election observation mission undertaken in various provinces during the 2004 local elections concluded that there was ill-treatment and ethnic discrimination within polling stations and that these problems remain a major factor in the political exclusion of indigenous peoples. The study concludes that the Supreme Electoral Court is promoting discriminatory practices against the country’s indigenous citizens, given the lack of any specific policy to promote the rights of indigenous peoples within the electoral process. 56. Since 1996, the Pachakutik movement, the political wing of the indigenous organization CONAIE, has made gains at the local level. In the May 2000 elections, it made its greatest electoral gain since it was founded and later briefly participated in the national Government. In the 2006 electoral process, it again took part, putting forward its own candidate for the post of President of Ecuador. 57. Since November 2003, the Ecuadorian Government has negotiated a free trade treaty with the United States of America. For the Government, most members of the business sector and part of the population, this treaty would solve the country’s numerous economic problems. Within indigenous organizations, however, there is concern over the impact that the treaty may have on the life of indigenous communities. The Government’s negotiator informed the Special Rapporteur that he had endeavoured to raise some of the issues that trouble indigenous peoples