A/HRC/33/68 D. Concluding remarks by the panellists 30. The panellists agreed on the need for holistic approaches that addressed structural factors of violence and discrimination against women and girls. 31. Recalling the framework of the 2030 Agenda, the panellists stressed that violence against indigenous women and girls was directly related to poverty, education, gender inequality, the availability of water, climate change and also the promotion of peaceful societies. To reduce inequality and social and cultural divisions and gaps, and to deliver on the promise of the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind, indigenous women and girls must play a central role in the implementation of the Agenda. The importance of the Agenda was based on the political will and commitment expressed to achieve gender equality, including through the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, and to uphold the equal rights of all people, men and women. 32. Within this context, the panellists emphasized that States had an obligation to eradicate violence against indigenous women and girls. In order to realize this obligation, a first critical step was the prompt removal of all discriminatory laws. 33. One major challenge was the fact that indigenous culture was often seen as a problem, instead of as a source of solution and inspiration. In this regard, the panellists stressed the important role of education in eliminating racism and racial discrimination against indigenous women, and in empowering indigenous women and girls in all areas of their lives, including by promoting their political participation and economic empowerment through national programmes. 34. With regard to action that could be taken at the international level, recommendations included strengthened interaction between indigenous women and human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Such cooperation could help to consolidate the best practices identified, and raise awareness of relevant legally binding norms. The panel referred to the individual communications procedure under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as a powerful tool to report and address violence against indigenous women at the international level. Furthermore, the establishment of an international network of indigenous lawyers was suggested, as a platform to share information about human rights mechanisms and experiences in interacting with such mechanisms. 35. In order to ensure justice, adopting and adequately implementing national legal systems, sensitive to indigenous standards and customs, and ensuring coherence between domestic and indigenous justice systems were recommended. In this effort, attention must constantly be paid to ensuring adherence to human rights obligations, and guaranteeing access to justice for all indigenous people, especially women. 36. With regard to data, the panellists recalled that most States did not have adequate data collection processes, such as data disaggregated by gender and ethnicity. Urgent measures were therefore needed to improve data collection and to enhance research on indigenous peoples in order to support more effective monitoring of their enjoyment of human rights. 37. The panellists concluded that the attention of the Human Rights Council to this issue was a welcome development, and called for increased support for the leadership and participation of indigenous women. 38. The moderator thanked the panellists for this historic discussion, and concluded by emphasizing that the situation would improve for indigenous peoples if women took a more 7