A/HRC/41/22 allocate resources to data collection. The approaches to data collection and interpretation must be based on participation, human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights. 9. Secondly, indigenous peoples’ voices needed to be amplified, in a way that went beyond tokenism and ensured their full, transparent and meaningful participation respecting their views of development. Besides, all States should ensure that indigenous peoples participate in the design and implementation of national sustainable development strategies, as well as in decision-making and review processes. 10. Thirdly, there was a need to protect indigenous human rights defenders and to denounce actions against them. States must ensure their safety. Indigenous human rights defenders should be able to act freely without fear of intimidation or reprisal, harassment or violence. It was also a shared duty of the United Nations and its Member States to work on avenues for protecting human rights defenders. 11. The Deputy High Commissioner further highlighted that there was much to learn from indigenous peoples about sustainability on different fronts. Yet, in the development context, the contribution of indigenous communities had been diminished and discounted for decades. Indigenous peoples’ know-how was irreplaceable and must not be extinguished. Upholding the rights of indigenous peoples was not only necessary if no one was to be left behind, it was essential for the fuller potential, capacity and contribution of all peoples to be released for the purpose of sustainable, inclusive development. To conclude, she drew attention to the recommendations of the human rights treaty bodies, the special procedures, the universal periodic review and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as a means to advance the rights of indigenous peoples. 12. Ms. Yamada thanked the Deputy High Commissioner for her encouraging words in the challenging context indigenous peoples faced with regard to their participation in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She introduced the panellists and recalled the objectives of the panel discussion. III. Summary of the proceedings A. Contributions of the panellists 13. Ms. Carling, Co-Convenor of the indigenous peoples major group, focused her presentation on how sustainable development had always been at the centre of indigenous peoples’ struggles and aspirations to uphold their well-being. Indigenous peoples had consistently advocated the recognition and the realization of their collective rights, as affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as a critical component of any development intervention concerning them. 14. Concerning the participation and inclusion of indigenous peoples in national sustainable development strategies, the process and the substance were interrelated elements to ensure that indigenous peoples were not left behind or even pushed behind in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The fact that, in many countries, indigenous peoples in rural and urban areas had, in general, little or no awareness of the Goals or of their Governments’ implementation strategies for the Goals prevented them from engaging effectively in those processes. 15. She highlighted the continuation of project implementation in the name of poverty reduction, renewable energy and economic growth as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. Those situations continued to affect, violate and disregard the rights of indigenous peoples, creating conflict and leading to the criminalization of indigenous peoples. She also emphasized the importance of following up on the recommendations from the universal periodic review and the human rights treaty bodies, notably the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and of integrating them into the strategies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 16. There was still a need for enabling indigenous peoples to participate meaningfully and to be completely included in the implementation of the Goals. She therefore 3