A/HRC/30/54 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 18/8 of 2011, the Human Rights Council first requested the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to undertake, with the assistance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a questionnaire on best practices regarding possible appropriate measures and implementation strategies to attain the goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In its resolutions 21/24 (2012) and 24/10 (2013), the Council requested the Expert Mechanism to continue to undertake the survey, with a view to completing summaries of responses for presentation to the Council at its twenty-fourth and twenty-seventh sessions, respectively. In its resolution 27/13 of 25 September 2014, the Human Rights Council once again requested the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to continue this exercise. The present report builds upon reports presented to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-first, twenty-fourth and twentyseventh sessions (A/HRC/21/54, A/HRC/24/51 and A/HRC/27/67). 2. Upon reviewing the questionnaires distributed in previous years, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples decided to update them, with the aim of streamlining and clarifying the information sought from States and indigenous peoples, as well as taking into account the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (General Assembly resolution 69/2). The revised questionnaire focuses on best practices in the areas of self-determination; participation in decision-making including free, prior and informed consent; languages and culture; non-discrimination and equality; lands, territories and resources; treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements; and measures taken to promote and protect rights of indigenous women, youth, children, elders, persons with disabilities and any other vulnerable groups. 3. The questionnaires for indigenous peoples and States were designed to be as consistent as possible with each other, in order to facilitate the comparison of responses and generate ideas for partnerships for implementation of the Declaration. All of the questions posed to States and indigenous peoples are reproduced below. The complete questionnaires, as well as the responses received (where permission was granted) are available on the website of the Expert Mechanism. 1 4. The Expert Mechanism thanks those who responded to this year’s questionnaire. Responses were received from Australia, Burundi, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark and the Government of Greenland, France, Guatemala, Japan, Paraguay and Peru. 5. The Expert Mechanism also thanks the following indigenous peoples and indigenous peoples’ organizations and representative bodies for their responses to this year’s questionnaire: ALDET Centre (Saint Lucia); Asociación Kunas Unidos por Napguana (Panama); Corporación Red Nacional de Mujeres Comunales, Comunitarias, Indígenas y Campesinas de la República de Colombia (REDCOMUINCACOL); Elnu Abenaki Tribe (United States); Les Amis du Sankuru (Democratic Republic of the Congo); ONG ADJMOR (Mali); Rehoboth Basters Community (Namibia); Saami Parliament of Finland; and Teemashane Community Development Trust (Botswana). 6. The Expert Mechanism also thanks the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba, Canada, for its assistance in reviewing the responses from States. 1 Available from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Pages/QuestionnaireDeclaration.aspx. 3