A/HRC/15/34
representatives from 15 countries, with the help of other United Nations agencies, including
ILO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO). It also developed national fellowship programmes at the country level. In 2009,
indigenous fellows from the programmes were posted with OHCHR-Guatemala and in
Moscow, contributing to the work there on indigenous issues.
25.
OHCHR, both at headquarters and through its field presences, continued to provide
support for networking and capacity-building of indigenous communities. OHCHR has
partnered with ILO to organize a series of workshops in cooperation with its Regional
Office for Central Africa in the central African regions, with a view to promoting
legislative and policy change on indigenous issues through the facilitation of dialogue
between Governments and indigenous peoples.
26.
In collaboration with UNDP, OHCHR-Mexico conducted several workshops on the
implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which brought
together representatives of different indigenous communities. The OHCHR Regional Office
for Central America in Panama also provided support by co-sponsoring a regional seminar
on the right to adequate housing and the prohibition of forced evictions, and a workshop for
indigenous women in Panama to discuss challenges to the enjoyment of individual and
collective rights and possible cooperation with regional and international human rights
mechanisms. OHCHR-Nepal partnered with ILO to organize workshops on the rights of
indigenous peoples focusing on conceptual clarity on the right to self-determination and the
right to free, prior and informed consent.
27.
In order to promote better understanding of the rights of indigenous peoples in the
subregion, the Regional Office for South-East Asia in Bangkok, in cooperation with UNDP,
organized two interactive regional dialogues focusing on the Declaration and bringing
together relevant partners, including the United Nations resident coordinators and other
United Nations representatives from the South-East Asia region, and civil society
representatives to discuss challenges and best practices in implementing the provisions of
the Declaration.
28.
The Human Rights Adviser in the Russian Federation continued to build the
capacity of indigenous peoples by facilitating training sessions in Moscow and Geneva on
international and national human rights systems for eight representatives of indigenous
communities from Russian Federation, under the auspices of the OHCHR Russian-speaking
fellowship programme.
29.
OHCHR-Cambodia has been advocating with development partners and national
institutions better implementation of the national framework protecting indigenous land,
including titling indigenous land.
30.
In Cameroon, the OHCHR Regional Office for Central Africa continued its
collaboration with indigenous peoples in the region. The Centre built the capacity of civil
society organizations, providing technical expertise and advisory services to representatives
of indigenous communities, international NGOs, Governments and United Nations system
partners from Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Rwanda. Representatives of local administrations, park
authorities and local NGOs received training on the Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples and the principle of free, prior and informed consent and other human
rights standards in April 2009.
31.
A dialogue between the Batwa communities and local authorities was successfully
established in Burundi, resulting in an increase in the enrolment rates of Batwa children in
schools and improvements in their access to lands. The Human Rights Adviser for the Great
7
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