A/HRC/17/38/Add.1 85. A partnership project, based in Rio de Janeiro, between FUNAI, the Banco do Brasil Foundation, and UNESCO to document indigenous languages in Brazil has been launched through the Museum of Indigenous Peoples (Museu do Índio), a scientific and cultural agency entrusted with protecting and promoting the culture of indigenous peoples as part of Brazilian cultural heritage. The project seeks to ensure the preservation of existing materials held in private collections, and in public and private institutions, and to document 20 endangered languages. The selection is based on, but not limited to, the following criteria: degree of threat to the language’s survival; existence of adequate conditions for the execution of high-level work by teams of competent linguists, which includes indigenous persons in research training positions; a positive response on the part of the concerned communities with respect to the efforts to preserve or reclaim their native languages. 86. The Indigenous Language Documentation Project (Projeto de Documentação de Línguas Indígenas) is coordinated and managed by experts and overseen by a scientific committee composed of renowned linguists specializing in Brazil’s indigenous languages. Expected outcomes include a social and linguistic diagnostic study; a digital collection with content drawn from audio and video recordings on culturally relevant aspects, including annotations containing at least a transcription and translation of the main points and headings; a dictionary; a basic grammar guide; educational primers, publicity material (videos, CDs, DVDs) and scientific publications. 3. Other aspects related to the protection of the right to use one’s own language 87. The independent expert welcomes efforts undertaken in Brazil for the protection of the right to use one’s own language, particularly regarding the documentation of indigenous languages and wishes to stress the importance of the revival, strengthening and development of indigenous languages in general and endangered languages in particular. In her view, this major goal should aim to facilitate the provision of culturally appropriate and bilingual education to all indigenous peoples of Brazil, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Constitution. In this regard, the independent expert encourages the Government, through FUNAI, to compile and disseminate examples of participatory approaches to bilingual education for indigenous peoples, and programmes offering an educational system that is culturally aware of indigenous cultures and cosmo-visions. 88. The independent expert welcomes the adoption of Decree 7.387 of 9 December 2010 to establish a national inventory of the linguistic diversity of Brazil. In this context, the independent expert praises the initiative taken by the University of São Paulo to produce an ethno-linguistic mapping of Afro-Brazilian communities in the states of Minas Gerais and Pará, and invites the Government of Brazil to continue adopting measures to document the existence of and to protect the use of remnants of Afro-Brazilian languages and other languages used in Brazil. V. Conclusions and recommendations 89. Culture, its governance, protection and promotion, occupies a central place in the domestic and international affairs of Brazil. A strong legislative and policy framework has enabled important efforts to be undertaken to protect and promote a number of elements of cultural rights in the governmental agenda, particularly in connection with the promotion of culture and facilitating mass participation in cultural activities, as well as in documenting, promoting access to, and preserving cultural expressions and cultural diversity. 90. Brazil is to be commended for its projects and programmes aimed at retrieving, revitalizing, documenting and promoting cultural manifestations, and facilitating 20