A/HRC/27/30
30.
OHCHR field presences also supported civil society organizations working on
indigenous peoples’ rights to engage with the human rights mechanisms. For instance, in
Kenya the Office assisted organizations in preparing the shadow report of the African
Commission and the parallel report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
In Belize, OHCHR provided technical assistance to indigenous peoples’ organizations on how
to engage with the human rights mechanisms.
31.
OHCHR Guatemala provided technical assistance to indigenous organizations on
indigenous peoples’ rights and access to regional human rights mechanisms, including with
preparing a petition to submit to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding
the lack of consultation of indigenous peoples, in general, and with the case of the Entre Ríos
hydroelectric project. The Office also facilitated dialogue for civil society organizations,
including indigenous organizations, to prepare the alternative report for submission to the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and provided assistance to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs with disseminating the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination.
32.
OHCHR Bolivia, in coordination with ILO, provided assistance and support to the
Guarani Indigenous Peoples University of Bolivia and Lowland “Apiaguaiki Tupa” (UNIBOL)
for a new course on the “rights of indigenous peoples in the universal system of human rights
and introduction to cultural expertise”. The first module was delivered in March 2014 and
focused on gender, multiculturalism and collective rights of indigenous peoples.
C.
Tools and guidance
33.
In 2013, OHCHR published Fact sheet No. 9/Rev.2, entitled Indigenous Peoples and the
United Nations Human Rights System, which contains a summary of indigenous peoples’
rights, an overview of international and regional human rights bodies and mechanisms relating
to indigenous peoples as well as a description of the activities of OHCHR and other United
Nations agencies engaged in indigenous peoples’ issues. The publication is currently available
in English, Russian and Spanish.3
34.
OHCHR continued to develop its close engagement with national human rights
institutions (NHRIs) on indigenous issues. Through wide-ranging consultations, OHCHR and
the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) completed the manual,
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A Manual for National
Human Rights Institutions, in 2013. Intended to strengthen NHRI engagement in and initiatives
focusing on the human rights of indigenous peoples, the manual gives the background and
context of the Declaration and addresses measures that NHRIs can take at the national and
international levels to protect and promote indigenous peoples’ rights. The manual also
contains examples of good practices from different NHRIs to illustrate effective ways of
implementing the Declaration, building on such practices as the national inquiry into the land
rights of indigenous peoples by the National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia
(SUHAKAM), the report of which was published in 2013.
35.
International human rights mechanisms and national Governments in South America
have started invoking the Guidelines for the protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary
isolation and initial contact in the Amazon Basin, El Gran Chaco and the Eastern Region of
Paraguay4, issued by OHCHR in May 2012. For example, in 2013, in examining the
3
4
8
Also available from http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/fs9Rev.2.pdf
See ACNUDH, en cooperación con la AECID, Directrices de protección para los pueblos indígenas en
aislamiento y en contacto inicial de la región Amazónica, el Gran Chaco y la Región Oriental de
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