A/HRC/17/38/Add.1 I. Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government, the independent expert in the field of cultural rights visited Brazil from 8 to 19 November 2010. The mission was facilitated by the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and included visits to the cities of Brasilia (Federal District), Rio de Janeiro (State of Rio de Janeiro), São Paulo (State of São Paulo), Dourados (State of Mato Grosso do Sul) and Salvador (State of Bahia). 2. The independent expert visited cultural projects of various partnerships and initiatives in Ceilandia (Federal District), the favelas of Manguihnos and Pavan Pavãozinho (Rio de Janeiro), Teyikue in Caaparó municipality (Mato Grosso do Sul), as well as the terreiros Ile Axé Opó Afonjá in Salvador and São Jorge Filho da Gomeia in the municipality of Lauro de Freitas (Bahia). The independent expert also visited Guarani indigenous peoples in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the surroundings of the cities of Dourados and Campo Grande. 3. During the mission, the independent expert met with senior Government officials at the federal, state and municipal levels working in the areas of culture, education, science and technology, human rights, women issues, racial equality, indigenous issues, social and economic development, strategic issues, and foreign affairs. She also met with the Office of Citizens’ Rights, academics, grass-roots leaders from religious communities, representatives of civil society organizations (CSO), Afro-descendents, indigenous peoples, cultural and socio-cultural movements, the media and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) 4. The independent expert expresses her appreciation to the Government of Brazil for providing her this valuable opportunity to examine the situation of cultural rights in Brazil. She extends her thanks to all stakeholders and interlocutors for their time, cooperation, information and insights on the promotion and protection of cultural rights in Brazil. 5. As indicated in her first report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/14/36, paragraph 5), the independent expert believes that the scope of her mandate can emerge by identifying and examining cultural rights understood as “rights in the field of culture”. Accordingly, in this report she is guided by available working definitions of culture, which stress that culture can be understood as a product, a process and a way of life. Such working definitions are found in the preamble of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, and general comment No. 21 (2009) on the right to take part in cultural life, adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The independent expert is also guided by the recognition of the universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated nature of all human rights, as stressed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (section I, paragraph 5). 6. In line with the foregoing, in the present report, the independent expert examines aspects of the promotion and the protection of cultural rights in Brazil, with particular attention to the right to take part in cultural life; the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its implications; the right to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interest of artistic creativity and expression, the right to enjoy one’s own culture and the right to use one’s own language. She presents findings on human rights that are directly related to the enjoyment of cultural rights, including but not limited to, the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief. Mindful of gender and issues relating to disabilities, she presents a number of encouraging initiatives implemented by the Government of Brazil, the private sector, civil society organizations, and the United Nations to protect and promote cultural rights in Brazil. To conclude, the independent 4