A/HRC//18/42 27. Respect for indigenous peoples’ right to participate in decision making is essential for achieving international solidarity and harmonious and cooperative relations. Consensus is not a legitimate approach if its intention or effect is to undermine the human rights of indigenous peoples. Where beneficial or necessary, alternative negotiation frameworks should be considered, consistent with States’ obligations in the Charter of the United Nations and other international human rights law. 28. Free, prior and informed consent implies that States have a duty to obtain indigenous peoples’ consent in relation to decisions that are of fundamental importance for their rights, survival, dignity and well-being. States should ensure that consultations and negotiations with indigenous peoples as required by article 18 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and consistent with other human rights standards. 29. States have a duty to respect indigenous peoples’ right to participate in all levels of decision-making, including in external decision-making, if the indigenous peoples concerned so choose and in the forms of their choosing, including, where appropriate, in co-governance arrangements. 30. States should respect and assist both traditional and contemporary forms of indigenous peoples’ governance structures, including their collective decision-making practices. 31. States should enact and implement constitutional and other legal provisions that ensure indigenous peoples’ participation in decision-making consistent with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular where that is sought by affected indigenous peoples. 32. Indigenous women often face exceptional impediments to participation in decision- making. States, international organizations, indigenous peoples and other decision-making entities should therefore conduct more intensive studies and design appropriate mechanisms to facilitate the participation of indigenous women in their activities and increase their access to address difficulties facing indigenous women seeking to fully participate in decision-making. Likewise, the inclusion of indigenous youth in decision-making is essential in both internal and external, including legislative, decision-making. 33. States and relevant international and domestic organizations should ensure that indigenous peoples have the financial and technical capacity to engage in consultation and consent-seeking exercises and to participate in regional and international decision-making processes. 34. States should also recognize that the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples constitutes a duty for States to obtain indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed 28