A/HRC/21/23 between OHCHR, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was launched to strengthen collaboration between the United Nations agencies and indigenous peoples. It aims to advance the promotion and implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights, as enshrined in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention No. 169 (1989) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, in particular through action at the country level. The initiative was formally launched in New York on 20 May 2011, with participation of the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues as well as senior management of the agencies concerned. 7. After the launch, the United Nations partner organizations constituted a Policy Board comprised of indigenous experts and United Nations representatives at the director level. Nominations for indigenous experts were received from the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. OHCHR was elected as the co-Chair on behalf of participating United Nations organizations and Raja Devasish Roy was elected as co-Chair by the indigenous experts. Other indigenous expert members of the Board include Adelfo Regino Montes (Secretary of Indigenous Affairs, Government of Oaxaca, Mexico), Angela Riley (Director of American Indian Studies Center and Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Chief of the Supreme Court of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, United States of America) and Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim from Chad (Coordinator of the Association des Femmes Peuples Autochtones du Tchad). 8. A number of key decisions were made at the Policy Board meeting held on 27–28 October 2011, including the finalization of the Policy Board’s terms of reference and strategic framework covering 2011–2015. The Board also reviewed and approved the following six United Nations country programmes and one regional programme to be supported by the United Nations Indigenous Peoples Partnership Initiative with a total amount of USD 1,320,000. In addition to the United Nations entities listed below, all projects involve partnership with indigenous peoples and authorities in the countries concerned: (a) The Plurinational State of Bolivia (Resident Coordinator (lead partner), OHCHR, UNDP, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF and ILO) to support legislative development and implementation of the right to consultation and participation of indigenous peoples with an emphasis on highly vulnerable indigenous peoples; (b) Cameroon (OHCHR (lead partner) and ILO) to support legal and institutional reforms in Cameroon with a view to enhancing respect for the principle of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples; (c) Central African Republic (ILO (lead partner) and UNFPA) to support Government’s review of laws, policies, and services to implement ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries and provisions of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; (d) Nepal (ILO (lead partner) and OHCHR) to support the implementation of ILO Convention No. 169 and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through local monitoring, planning and budgeting committees; (e) Nicaragua (Resident Coordinator’s Officer and United Nations Indigenous Consultative Mechanism) to support the strengthening of knowledge and consultative mechanisms for indigenous peoples in order to facilitate implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention No. 169; 4