A/HRC/18/26
focused on the rescue and rehabilitation of Kamalari children, district and regional
advocacy networks have been established.
2.
Technical cooperation and capacity-building activities
29.
The Office supported Governments on indigenous issues by means of a range of
technical cooperation activities. OHCHR in Bolivia (Plurinational State of) continued to
support actions aimed at changing patterns of discrimination and exclusion of indigenous
peoples. Several of these actions were part of legislative and institutional developments
concerning the implementation of constitutional provisions. The Office provided various
round tables that drafted the bill against racism and all forms of discrimination with
technical support, including legal analysis. Together with support from Headquarters,
OHCHR provided support through a workshop to the Vice Ministry of Decolonization,
which is responsible for addressing racism and racial discrimination through a plan of
action.
30.
OHCHR also provided the Vice Ministry of Indigenous Justice with support for the
process of consultation on a bill on jurisdictional boundaries. This was done through
dissemination of information on the bill, organizing a series of workshops and training
sessions on indigenous peoples’ rights, with a focus on consultation within the framework
of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, monitoring the
consultations as such, and participating in the round-table discussions that incorporated
inputs collected during the consultation process into the draft bill. During the consultation,
representatives of indigenous peoples expressed their support for the draft bill; however, the
final text of the bill, as adopted on 29 December 2010, contains a number of amendments
that do not reflect the comments made by indigenous peoples during the consultation
process. While the Constitution of Bolivia (Plurinational State of) provides for the right to
consultation with indigenous peoples, and Law 3760 of 2007 incorporates the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a national law, to date, internal
legislation to regulate consultation has only been adopted for the exploitation of
hydrocarbons.
31.
In Colombia, the Office provides ongoing support for the implementation of a plan
to protect the Awa indigenous people, as ordered by the Constitutional Court of Colombia
in 2009. Support efforts includes hosting and working with a national consultant financed
by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs to help implement the plan. Together
with UNDP and the Office of the Resident Coordinator, OHCHR Colombia provided
technical advice to support the creation of a high-level commission to make public policy
recommendations for the protection of indigenous peoples.
32.
OHCHR Colombia provided Government officials and members of parliament with
technical advice during the discussion of a draft law for victims of the internal armed
conflict and land restitution. The draft law includes the duty of the State to consult with
ethnic groups with a view to obtain their consent. The Office also launched an initiative
aimed at carrying out broad national participatory processes with ethnic communities to
discuss their visions, aspirations, concerns, comments and experiences on the principle of
free, prior and informed consultation and consent, with the potential of it becoming a
legally binding instrument. In July 2010, the first phase of the project was carried out with
expert assistance from the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.
33.
OHCHR Guatemala carried out workshops on the duty to consult with Government
officials, indigenous authorities, civil society organizations, journalists and the private
sector to contribute to the understanding of this duty in compliance with international
standards. The Office also participated in meetings with a governmental commission in
charge of drafting a regulation on the duty of States to consult. The Office highlighted the
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