A/HRC/12/34/Add.3 page 9 wider commitment to human rights, as reflected in the ratification of other international human rights treaties. The Convention’s ratification is particularly significant as Nepal is the first Asian country to ratify this instrument, signifying its potential leadership in the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in the region. 25. Also as a reflection of its commitment to international standards concerning indigenous peoples, Nepal voted in favour of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on 13 September 2007. With Nepal’s ratification of Convention 169 and its support for the United Nations Declaration, movement is in place towards legislative and programmatic reforms that will establish or enhance legal protections for indigenous peoples and mainstream those protections in the various relevant Government programmes, in line with the standards expressed in these instruments. D. Ongoing human rights challenges 26. The Government of Nepal is to be commended for its commitment to international human rights standards, including those that specifically concern the rights of indigenous peoples, and for the initiatives it already has undertaken to move towards compliance with these standards. Despite significant improvements, Adivasi Janajati continue to confront discriminatory social and political arrangements that originated in the past, and whose current manifestations impede their effective control over their lives and undermine their cultural identities. Having suffered gradual loss of traditional lands and access to life-sustaining natural resources, across the country, they rank low in all human development indicators. Most Adivasi Janajati communities live in conditions of poverty that, on the whole, are double or more the national poverty level, not only in remote and rural regions but also in cities. Adequate health care among indigenous communities is lacking, with indigenous women and children being especially vulnerable, as are opportunities for education. 1. Political participation and self-governance 27. All actors consulted by the Special Rapporteur during his visit concurred that a major barrier that indigenous peoples confront in the enjoyment of their human rights is their historical exclusion from participation in decision-making processes at all levels of Government. Historically marginalized from the political mainstream, indigenous peoples have been inadequately represented at the local Government level. The preamble to the Local Self-Governance Act, 2055 (1999) acknowledges the historical exclusion of indigenous communities and the need to incorporate them into the development process. The Act provides for the representation of at least one indigenous representative at the village, town and district councils. But in practice Adivasi Janajati have continued to be ill-represented in the local governing bodies, particularly in the geographic areas in which they are demographic minorities, and they have lacked decision-making powers over district and village development programmes affecting them. In the context of Nepal’s ongoing transition, the Government of Nepal reports efforts to remedy this under-representation, and it is endeavouring to include representatives of NFDIN in the formulation and implementation of development plans and allocation of resources at the local level. 28. Noteworthy efforts have been made to increase representation of Adivasi Janajatis and other under-represented groups in public service sectors. In 2007, the Civil Service Act was