A/HRC/14/23 55. Persons living in poverty find it difficult to make their voices heard. Their circumstances prevent them from exercising their right to free speech; poverty restricts their access to information, to education and to the media. Illiteracy is particularly a problem among the poor, and Governments should therefore continue their efforts to eradicate it. 56. Freedom of opinion and expression and access to communication are tools that can contribute to the eradication of poverty. By exercising this right, poor social groups can obtain information, assert their rights and participate in the public debate concerning social and political changes that would improve their situation. Access to communication is also fundamental to economic and social development because it enables communities to obtain the information they need to run their own activities. Governments should therefore ensure access to communication, in general, and to electronic means of communications, in particular, in order to combat poverty. 57. Recalling the Colombo Declaration of 2006 on media, development and poverty eradication, which states in paragraph 1: “Freedom of expression should be made available to all. It requires effective local participation to empower individuals and groups to address poverty, hunger, disease, discrimination, vulnerability, social exclusion, environmental degradation and education.” The Declaration also calls on Governments to “expand the reach of information and communication technologies especially to poor and marginalized populations”. 58. In this context, the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty asserted that “[e]ffective and meaningful participation by people living in poverty requires that a broad set of rights are respected, protected and fulfilled, including freedom of expression […] In practice, this requires the establishment of specific mechanisms and arrangements at different levels to ensure that there are ways in which those living in poverty have a voice and play an effective part in the life of the community”.5 3. Minorities and indigenous peoples 59. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes the importance that exercising the right to freedom of opinion and expression has for minorities and indigenous peoples, as freedom of opinion and expression is a basic tool for ensuring the specific recognition of the rights demanded by these groups. 60. Article 16 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination. Therefore, the Special Rapporteur considers that, in addition to fulfilling their duty to ensure freedom of opinion and expression, it is of paramount importance for Governments to honour their obligation to promote indigenous cultural diversity in the public and private media. 61. Consequently, the Special Rapporteur encourages the mass media to ensure that they have a representative and diverse staff. He also urges the press and mass media to provide coverage that creates an atmosphere of respect for cultural diversity and multiculturalism. 62. Governments should take into account the ethnic, cultural, religious and ideological diversity of the various social groups. They should also promote and protect the languages of minorities and indigenous peoples by, inter alia, upholding their right to speak their own language and to propagate their culture and traditions, both in private and in public. In no 5 10 Report of the independent expert (A/63/274), para. 22. GE.10-13049