A/HRC/15/35 20. Article 15 of Convention No. 169 establishes the principle that indigenous peoples have the right to the natural resources existing on their lands, including the right to the participation, use, management and conservation of these resources. In cases where States retain the ownership of mineral or subsoil resources, article 15 (2) requires, as a fundamental safeguard, that indigenous peoples be consulted prior to undertaking or authorizing the exploration or exploitation of natural resources on indigenous lands, with a view to ascertaining whether and to what degree their interests would be prejudiced. 21. Convention No. 169 establishes five qualitative requirements for State consultations with indigenous peoples. Article 6 (1) (a) of the Convention requires that consultations be carried out through representative institutions of indigenous peoples. ILO supervisory bodies have emphasized that the determination of representativeness “should be a result of a process carried out by the indigenous peoples themselves”.12 Consequently, it is required that the indigenous peoples or community concerned identify the institutions that meet these requirements, prior to any consultations. Moreover, in the light of the fact that many indigenous institutions have been undermined in discriminatory historical processes that have resulted in an asymmetry in the relationship between States and indigenous peoples, it is of crucial importance that States support the development of indigenous peoples’ own institutions and initiatives and, when appropriate, provide these with the necessary resources.13 22. Article 6 (1) (a) of Convention No. 169 establishes that consultations should be carried out through appropriate procedures. ILO supervisory bodies consider procedures to be appropriate if they create favourable conditions for achieving agreement or consent to the proposed measures, regardless of the result obtained.14 General public hearing processes are not normally regarded to be sufficient to meet the requirement of “appropriate procedures”. The ILO Committee of Experts has stated that the content of the consultation procedures and mechanisms needs to allow the full expression of the viewpoints of the indigenous peoples or communities concerned, in a timely manner and based on their full understanding of the issues involved, so that they may be able to affect the outcome and a consensus be achieved, and that it be undertaken in a manner that is acceptable to all parties.15 23. Article 6 (2) of the Convention establishes that consultations should be undertaken in good faith and in a form appropriate to the circumstances. This requires that consultations be carried out in a climate of mutual trust and transparency. Governments must ensure that indigenous peoples have all relevant information concerning the matter at hand and that the information can be fully understood by them. Indigenous peoples must be given sufficient time to allow them to engage in their own decision-making process, and participate effectively in decisions taken in a manner consistent with their cultural and social traditions. 24. Furthermore, in accordance with article 6 (2) of the Convention, the objective of the consultation should be to achieve agreement or consent. This requires that agreement or consent be the goal of the parties, and that genuine efforts need to be made to reach an 12 13 14 15 A Guide to ILO Convention No. 169 (Geneva, 2009), p. 59. ILO Governing Body, two hundred and eighty-second session, November 2001, representation under article 24 of the ILO Constitution, Mexico, GB.289/17/3. See footnote 11 above, chap. V. ILO Governing Body, two hundred and eighty-ninth session, March 2004. Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, general observation on Convention No. 169, p. 672, available at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms _103484.pdf. 7