A/HRC/15/34
was initiated further to a General Assembly recommendation made in the context of the
Programme of Action for the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous
People in 2006, as well as subsequent recommendations by the Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues.
13.
In the last 18 months, the Office has taken a number of steps, in cooperation with the
Institute for the Promotion of Social Studies (IPES) and the International Work Group for
Indigenous Affairs with financial support from Spanish Development Cooperation
(AECID), towards the completion of guidelines on the issue. It invited the seven
Governments concerned to comment on the draft (the draft guidelines are contained in
document A/HRC/EMRIP/2009/6) and organized a series of national consultations: in
March 2010 in Ecuador and Colombia, in May 2010 in Paraguay and Brazil and in July
2010 in Bolivia, to which the relevant governmental ministries and departments, indigenous
peoples, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), experts and representatives of the United
Nations system were invited. These national consultations have allowed the Office to
further elaborate the guidelines under three headings which clarify key concepts; set out the
normative framework drawing on existing instruments, including the Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples and International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No.
169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries of 1989 (which
has been ratified by all the countries concerned) and case-law from the international and
inter-American human rights systems; and propose a policy framework or action plan for
consideration by Governments.
14.
A final regional meeting will take place in August 2010 in the Plurinational State of
Bolivia, under the auspices of the Government, to review the latest version of the guidelines
and consider options for their implementation. It is planned that the guidelines, together
with examples of best practice and publications on isolated and initially contacted
indigenous peoples, will be finalized towards the end of 2010.
15.
OHCHR-Mexico provided technical assistance to the Secretariat of Indigenous
Peoples in the State of Michoacán regarding the preparation of a constitutional amendment
aimed at protecting the rights of indigenous peoples to be considered by the local congress.
It also advised on a local law related to the rights and culture of indigenous peoples which
will accompany the constitutional reform, and assisted Mexico City’s executive and
legislative branches in a process to consult indigenous peoples living in the city on the
drafting a local law on their rights. These activities seek to guarantee that legislation is
accordance with international human rights standards, including the Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
16.
Furthermore, OHCHR-Mexico has engaged with the national human rights
institution and the National Institute for Statistics and Geography in a process of
consolidating human rights indicators, which will be disaggregated by indigenous origin
after a validation process. OHCHR-Mexico also offered its assistance to the Mexican
Supreme Court to ensure that its rulings are consistent with international human rights
standards regarding cases related, in particular, to the right to land and the right to be
consulted.
17.
OHCHR-Cambodia offered its assistance and legal advice to provincial and local
authorities, indigenous communities and NGOs in order to protect communities’ access to
land and resources. It has worked with selected companies to encourage them to apply
standards of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, beyond mere respect of
national law. For instance, prompted by the Office’s legal advice, in 2009 one multinational
company which had been granted a rubber concession conducted an additional, extensive
environmental and social impact assessment, including an analysis on how the Declaration
applied to its rubber plantation. It has since conducted consultations with the affected
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