A/HRC/55/51/Add.1 care, even if it seemed that public authorities had often been trying their best to provide those services. 47. With regard to the lack of the State’s provision of services, the Special Rapporteur witnessed positive initiatives, such as collaboration within civil society organizations, such as the Association of Services of Indigenous-Mennonite Cooperation, 39 which have contributed to securing large tracts of land for Indigenous communities, establishing Indigenous communities on a stable basis and helping to provide basic services, such as education and health. However, these efforts remain ad hoc, dispersed and may not always be available or sustainable. He encountered members of Indigenous communities who continued to live in precarious conditions, with little or no guaranteed access to water, with children not always having access to education on a continuous basis and with limited or difficult access to health care. Entities and departments with the task and responsibilities for the implementation and respect of the rights of Indigenous communities, such as the Paraguayan Institute for Indigenous Peoples, must have the financial and human resources necessary to carry out their mandates. 1. Indigenous languages 48. The Special Rapporteur was particularly interested in the situation of Indigenous languages, since the United Nations has declared the period between 2022 and 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, in order to draw attention to the critical status of many Indigenous languages across the world and to encourage action for their preservation, revitalization and promotion. In Paraguay, there are 19 Indigenous languages spoken. Six of those languages are in danger of extinction, such as Guaná, which only three people speak today. Therefore, there is a need to work on the maintenance of the languages, and women can have an important role, as is the case with Guaná. 49. The Special Rapporteur applauds the overall positive view of most people in the country towards the Guaraní language. He considers it a remarkable context, reflecting the willingness for a pluricultural, tolerant and inclusive approach of Paraguayan society. However, the Special Rapporteur advocates that noble sentiments and symbolic gestures need to be backed up by concrete actions and resources on the ground. Despite the numerous initiatives in support of the Guaraní language, its official use by public institutions and its use in public are still severely constrained, even though a majority of the population has some knowledge of it. In other words, the minority population who identify Guaraní as their main language do not have equal and effective access to public services from State authorities, including in public media and health services, in their own language, and Guaraní is often simply not visible or used to any significant extent compared with Spanish. A process to develop and enact new legislation should be adopted to ensure equal and effective bilingualism in State institutions and services, including in public media. Furthermore, the Government should also stablish a process to draft and enact new legislation in both of the country’s official languages, a practice which is common in countries with two official languages. Thus, Guaraní and Spanish can be considered as truly equal. 50. The other 18 Indigenous languages in Paraguay are in a much more precarious situation than Guaraní.40 Although the 2021 national plan for Indigenous communities takes into consideration the need for the revitalization and preservation of Indigenous languages, as one of its objectives,41 the Special Rapporteur took note of the fact that, in general, the capacity and competence of the Paraguayan Institute for Indigenous Peoples is very limited, due to lack of financial and human resources, and he hopes that it does not also affect initiatives related to the preservation of Indigenous Peoples’ languages. Likewise, initiatives to support access to justice and due process of law for Indigenous Peoples, such as proceedings which should be conducted in the language of the individual of the Indigenous 39 40 41 GE.23-23380 Asociación de Servicios de Cooperación Indígena-Menonita; see https://ascim.org/index.php/es/ (in Spanish). Except for a limited way in education as described later. See https://www.indi.gov.py/application/files/8716/1903/8084/Plan_Nacional_Pueblos_Indigenas__version_digital.pdf, p. 51. 11