A/HRC/45/51 homeless or living in informal settlements. They will also help to protect the entire world’s population by flattening the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic.28 32. The Special Rapporteur notes that 30 indigenous communities have now received collective land titles from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. A total of 131 have received recognition of their status from the Ministry of Interior, and 151 communities have received recognition of their indigenous identity from the Ministry of Rural Development. 33. Despite these developments, and previous commitments to simplify the communal land titling process for indigenous peoples by accepting relevant 2019 universal periodic review recommendations,29 the existing land titling process remains cumbersome and slow to secure protection for indigenous peoples, largely undermining procedural safeguards rendered by current national legislation. The Special Rapporteur has received consistent information that many indigenous and local communities living within, or adjacent to, environmentally protected areas have restricted access to their traditional land. Despite provisions in the protected areas law of 2008 allowing access, local environmental authorities often deny them this right, sometimes leading to tensions and criminal action against community leaders or activists. 34. On 6 May 2019, the Ministry of Rural Development issued circular No. 148/19 establishing a technical working group on the preservation and development of indigenous peoples. The working group included representatives from over 20 ministries, local authorities’ representatives from 15 provinces, 4 civil society organizations and 2 United Nations agencies. The Special Rapporteur is dismayed to note that the Ministry of Rural Development dissolved the working group on 4 February 2020, without providing any official reason. C. Leaving no one behind 35. Over the past five years, the Special Rapporteur has placed an emphasis in her reports on the situation of many individuals and groups in Cambodia who are marginalized, especially vulnerable and at risk of being left behind. She has made a number of recommendations calling for full realization of the rights and freedoms of everyone in Cambodia, many of which are yet to be implemented. In particular, she has raised the possibility of enacting a comprehensive non-discrimination law.30 36. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended that the State should ensure that its national legislation includes a definition of discrimination against women, covering direct and indirect discrimination in the public and private spheres, including intersecting forms of discrimination, in line with article 1 of the Convention, as accepted by the State party following its third universal periodic review.31 Following their constructive dialogue a month later, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended that the State party expeditiously adopt a comprehensive law that defines and prohibits direct and indirect racial discrimination on all prohibited grounds, in line with article 1 of the Convention, and develop a national action plan against racial discrimination.32 37. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the number of recommendations accepted by the Government during its third universal periodic review to improve the protection and promotion of the rights of the most vulnerable in Cambodia.33 The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, for example, highlighted the need to strengthen social policies in favour of 28 29 30 31 32 33 8 www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25727&LangID=E. A/HRC/41/17, paras. 110.20–110.23 and 110.130. A/HRC/42/60, para. 74 (i). CEDAW/C/KHM/CO/6, para. 9 (a). See also A/HRC/41/17/Add.1, para. 2. CERD/C/KHM/CO/14-17, para. 12. See also A/HRC/42/60/Add.1, which addresses those likely to be left behind in the country’s development.