A/HRC/30/53
including through the recognition of indigenous peoples’ right to control and benefit from
their natural resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.
18.
States should provide measures for the revitalization and transmission of the cultural
heritage of indigenous peoples in formal and informal education, including the promotion
and protection of indigenous peoples’ languages through effective mother tongue education
for indigenous children.
19.
States should take effective measures to assess, redress and remedy the effects of
past injustices and violations of the rights of indigenous peoples by ensuring the restitution
and repatriation of their cultural heritage.
20.
States should increase their financial support to museums that are owned and
managed by indigenous peoples, as part of the redress and repatriation process.
21.
States should strengthen their legal and policy frameworks to encourage public and
private museums to reach out to indigenous communities in order to better understand the
impact of restoring stolen cultural heritage.
22.
States should ensure that investors and corporations respect the cultural heritage of
indigenous peoples. Businesses have a responsibility to protect the right to cultural heritage;
if operations have a negative impact on the realization of that right, businesses have a
responsibility to remedy that impact.
23.
States that have not already done so should ratify the Convention for the
Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, as a measure to increase the protection
afforded to indigenous peoples’ intangible cultural heritage.
C.
Advice for international organizations
24.
There is a need for better coordination and collaboration between institutions and
agencies of the United Nations system on matters relating to cultural heritage and its human
rights dimensions so as to increase coherence and avoid duplication of work. This issue
could be addressed in the system-wide action plan on indigenous peoples that is currently
being developed, as requested by the General Assembly in the outcome document of the
World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.
25.
Relevant special procedures should monitor State policies on access to cultural
heritage to ensure that they respect the principles of the Declaration and that States act in
accordance with the provisions in the International Labour Organization Indigenous and
Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169 that protect cultural heritage.
26.
International organizations working in the field of cultural heritage, such as
UNESCO, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and other United Nations
specialized agencies, must integrate and respect the rights proclaimed in the Declaration in
their work. This includes obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous
peoples before any decision affecting their lands is taken.
27.
The World Heritage Committee should take effective measures to ensure that the
protection of World Heritage does not undermine indigenous peoples’ relationship with
their traditional lands, territories and resources, their livelihoods and their rights to protect,
exercise and develop their cultural heritage and expressions.
28.
The World Heritage Committee needs to review its current procedures and
Operational Guidelines, with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, to
ensure that the implementation of the World Heritage Convention is consistent with the
Declaration.
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