A/HRC/17/38/Add.1 1. Legal recognition and protection 67. The Federal Constitution recognizes a number of rights of indigenous peoples, directly related to their cultural survival and protection. This includes the State’s obligation to ensure to indigenous communities the use of their native languages and their own learning procedures in elementary education, which is provided in the Portuguese language (article 210.2). Rights include the recognition and protection of the social organization, customs, languages, creeds and traditions of indigenous peoples; rights to the lands they have traditionally occupied and ensuring respect for all their property (article 231) and resort to effective remedies to enforce these rights, including the intervention of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for the defence of indigenous peoples (article 232). Progress has been made in developing culturally sensitive and appropriate education for indigenous people: more than 300 bilingual textbooks have been prepared keeping in mind the cultural perspective of communities on education, and a reported 95 per cent of teachers are from the community. 68. The Law 11.645 of 2008 seeks to promote public awareness of indigenous cultures and rights in the media and the general educational system. The independent expert especially urges the Government to take all steps to implement this law, as during her visit, she received information about a television programme, aired in November 2010, which portrayed indigenous peoples as practicing infanticide, and which gave rise to attacks against persons of indigenous origin in the city of Manaus (Amazonas State). 2. Institutional and policy framework 69. The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) is the State agency that formulates and implements national policies on indigenous peoples in accordance with the Federal Constitution. FUNAI has achieved great success in the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights, including the protection of their lands. However, the independent expert notes that greater participation of indigenous peoples in the management and operation of FUNAI would reinforce the recognition of indigenous peoples’ right to be masters of their own future, as a major goal recognized in both the ILO Convention No. 169 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In this regard, the independent expert shares the concerns expressed by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples on the need to revisit how FUNAI is implementing its mandate, with a view to overcoming paternalistic approaches (A/HRC/12/34/Add.2). 3. Guaraní indigenous communities 70. In Brazil, the Guarani total between 3,000 and 4,000 persons divided into three different indigenous groups: Mbya, Nhandeva and Kayova. They speak the Guaraní language of the Tupi-guarani linguistic family, and live in states in the south and southeast of Brazil, including Mato Grosso do Sul and Pará.14 71. During her visit, the independent expert visited Guarani indigenous peoples in Mato Grosso do Sul State in the proximities of Dourados and Campo Grande. Two contrasting trends were observed in situ by the independent expert. On the one hand, she observed and interacted with Guaraní communities involved in ongoing land rights disputes. State interventions reported in these communities include the provision of subsidies for families to alleviate poverty and specific subsidies for the elderly. Nevertheless, the community 14 16 The Guaraní people also inhabit western Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, northern Uruguay and southeastern Bolivia.