A/HRC/33/27 E. Universal periodic review 65. Issues related to indigenous peoples’ rights were addressed in a number of recommendations arising from the universal periodic review. During the reporting period, 42 countries were reviewed for the second time during the twenty-second to twenty-fourth sessions of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. Recommendations on indigenous peoples were addressed to Australia, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malawi, Myanmar, Nepal, Panama, Rwanda, Sweden and the United States. The recommendations to either ratify or implement the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), and to fully implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples were made many times. The following recommendations were also made: to establish national action plans to address issues that disproportionately affect indigenous peoples, such as poverty, illiteracy, low birth registration rates and hate crimes; and to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. Other issues that were raised in the context of the universal periodic review were related to indigenous peoples’ access to education, especially in their mother tongue, and equal access to health, safe drinking water, justice and political participation. Additional recommendations were made on violence against indigenous women and human rights defenders, the recognition of ancestral land rights and the inclusion of indigenous peoples in decision-making processes. It was recommended that measures be implemented to reduce poverty and social exclusion among indigenous peoples in Honduras; that the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples, including to their ancestors’ lands, be effectively strengthened in Kenya; and that indigenous peoples be regularly consulted on matters of interest to them, that indigenous peoples be supported in efforts to enjoy their right to traditionally owned lands and resources and that measures be adopted to effectively protect sacred areas against environmental exploitation and degradation in the United States. 66. OHCHR has often supported efforts to follow up on the recommendations on the rights of indigenous peoples that have been made during the universal periodic review. For example, Mexico has accepted several recommendations that relate to the right of indigenous peoples to prior consultation. To this end, the office in Mexico has provided technical assistance to improve adherence to international standards. Moreover, OHCHR has engaged with a group within the executive branch in the process of drafting a law on prior consultation. IV. Conclusions 67. Shrinking democratic spaces and a development agenda pushed through without consideration for indigenous peoples’ right to consultation have remained a source of conflict during the reporting period. Systematic discrimination, lack of indigenous peoples’ participation in decision-making (in particular in the context of large-scale projects, the extractive industries sector and legislative processes), lack of land demarcation and titling, challenges to indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact, and increasing violence against indigenous human rights defenders are among the challenges faced by indigenous peoples worldwide. The rights of indigenous peoples have remained a priority for OHCHR, as demonstrated by its actions at the country and regional levels and by the solid support it has provided to mechanisms of the Human Rights Council and other intergovernmental bodies, as well as to international processes. 14