A/HRC/55/51/Add.1
(j)
Strengthen the Permanent Forum for Interreligious Dialogue and
formally ensure the periodicity of its meetings, to enhance interaction and mutual
respect, open constructive forms of interreligious dialogue and foster tolerance;
(k)
Include questions on the Afrodescendent identity in all future national
censuses, in consultation with the interested parties, including all Afrodescendent
communities, and with technical and other assistance from international and regional
organizations;
(l)
Create an executive body, for instance, an office for Afrodescendent policy
under the Office of the Presidency, in which an Afrodescendent policy officer would be
assigned for each ministry, with the view to promoting the inclusion of these
communities in policymaking initiatives and institutional decisions;
(m) Ensure that the Paraguayan Institute for Indigenous Peoples has the
financial and human resources necessary to carry out its mandate;
(n)
Develop and enact new legislation to ensure the equal and effective
bilingualism in the use of Spanish and Guaraní languages in State institutions, services
and public media and in particular in official documents and laws;
(o)
Take into consideration the special connection that Indigenous Peoples
have with their traditional lands and, when forced evictions are necessary, follow a
protocol prepared and conducted in consultation with the affected communities, in
order to avoid violence and further violations of human rights;
(p)
Observe more carefully the traditional customs, and respect the linguistic
rights of, Indigenous communities, in order to fully implement the ILO Indigenous and
Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), and to better integrated it into judicial
processes and the education system;
(q)
Expand the capacity of the relay centres for deaf people; these services
must operate continuously, around the clock, during the whole week, to ensure the
rights of users of sign languages and their equal access to vital and basic public services;
(r)
Set up a national formation programme for sign language teachers,
aiming at the best interests of the child and taking a truly inclusive approach in
education, with a view to prohibiting discrimination in education and ensuring the
fulfilment of the rights of sign language users in the education system throughout the
country, not only in the urban central areas.
75.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the National Institute of Statistics
immediately establish a consultative committee of Afrodescendent people, with
representatives of all communities, to consult and advise it on the establishment and use
of the national registry to address, among other things, the grave privacy and other
concerns raised by many members of the community.
76.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Ministry of Education and
Sciences review policies and, if necessary, make amendments to legislation for the
purposes of facilitating the use of sign language as a language of instruction and train
and employ fluent users of sign language as teachers in the public education system.
77.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government of Paraguay, the
Ministry of Education and Sciences, the National Secretariat of Culture, the National
Secretariat of Language Polices and all other relevant governmental bodies and
stakeholders establish a national campaign to celebrate and highlight the many positive
contributions of all segments of society, including Afrodescendent people, Indigenous
Peoples, religious and other minorities and people with disabilities, who enrich the
multicultural mosaic of Paraguayan society.
GE.23-23380
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