A/HRC/45/44/Add.1 (bb) Develop and implement public policies of affirmative action for AfroEcuadorian people, including with respect to access to work, among other rights, to improve the living conditions of people of African descent; (cc) Create a technical secretariat for people of African descent to identify, visualize and address discrimination and exclusion of people of African descent; (dd) Prepare and approve an organic act on public consultation, with an intercultural approach and with the participation of the Afro-Ecuadorian, indigenous and Montubio peoples; (ee) Through the Ministry of Education, implement a policy allowing ethnoeducation and publicizing and disseminating the culture of people of African descent to the entire population, while including opportunities for the participation of people of African descent and their organizations; (ff) Through the Council of the Judiciary and the Secretariat for Human Rights, guarantee access to justice for Afro-descendant peoples and provide training for its staff on the collective rights of people of African descent; (gg) Develop and adopt a comprehensive policy to protect human rights defenders that includes measures to protect people of African descent and to prevent violations of their rights, particularly in the context of extractive activities; (hh) Take measures to ensure the legal security of Afro-Ecuadorians with regard to the land, territories and natural resources that they have traditionally occupied and used; (ii) Ensure adequate consultation and obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Afro-Ecuadorians on the establishment and management of protected areas and other protection measures in respect of their lands and territories; (jj) Strengthen the presence of State institutions in the northern border provinces including Esmeraldas, to provide the public services necessary to ensure people’s well-being and security and the full enjoyment of human rights, with special attention paid to communities of African descent; (kk) Take specific action to meet the needs of Afro-Ecuadorians in the Province of Esmeraldas in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account that they are a particularly vulnerable population; in particular, address the food and drug needs of these populations that have emerged as a result of the pandemic, control and halt the extractive activities that are invading the territories of Afro-Ecuadorians and polluting their main sources of water, and initiate environmental remediation and social reparation processes for the northern communities of the Province of Esmeraldas; (ll) Increase COVID-19 testing in communities of people of African descent; (mm) Collect and disaggregate COVID-19 data to better understand the racial make-up of those who have been tested, those who have tested positive, those who have been hospitalized, those who have recovered and those who have died; (nn) Ensure the participation of Afro-Ecuadorian communities in the development of strategies to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 crisis. 81. The justice system and the Constitutional Court should take action to clear the backlog of cases, in particular cases filed by Afro-Ecuadorian in defence of their constitutional rights. 82. The Constitutional Court must respond to the action of non-compliance with the judgment on precautionary measures No. 08256-2011-0058, awarded in November 2017, by the Court of Justice of Esmeraldas in favour of Afro-Ecuadorian communities in La Chiquita and Awá de Guadualito in a case of environmental pollution generated by the companies Palmeras de los Andes and Palmar de los Esteros. (case No. 08100-2010-0485). 17