A/HRC/33/57 such plans include measures to fulfil indigenous peoples’ right to health. As indigenous peoples have the right to specific measures to improve their access to health services and care, the immediate obligation to create a national health plan requires States to make provision for indigenous peoples’ needs in a “mainstream” plan, as in Guatemala, 16 or a separate indigenous health plan, like the Maori Health Strategy, He Korowai Oranga, in New Zealand.17 In addition, States should ratify and incorporate into national law relevant international instruments containing health rights, such as the Declaration, the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Facilitate 38. In accordance with the right to self-determination, States should provide sufficient resources to indigenous communities to create and operate their own health-care initiatives. Care provided by indigenous community-controlled organizations is often of a higher quality than that provided by mainstream services, significantly improving the availability and accessibility of health care. Indigenous organizations can create a virtuous cycle in respect of health and employment, serving as prominent employers of indigenous peoples and helping to combat poverty within indigenous communities. In Australia, the Aboriginal community-controlled health-care sector employs nearly 4,000 people and services over 60 per cent of Aboriginal people outside major metropolitan centres, with superior performance to mainstream services noted on key indicators. 18 In Colombia, 80 per cent of the professional staff of Pueblo Bello indigenous hospital in Valledupar are of indigenous origin — a significant achievement in intercultural practice.19 39. States should also facilitate access to health-care services through improved birth registration processes, where appropriate. Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child gives every child the right to be registered immediately after birth. Yet, many registration systems remain inadequate in relation to indigenous births. A lack of registration and identification documents directly impedes access to health-care facilities, goods and services where identification is a prerequisite for obtaining care (CRC/C/CRI/CO/4) and prevents the collection of disaggregated data, which is vital in monitoring disparities in health-care status between different ethnic groups. Registration can be facilitated through targeted registration campaigns, as in Brazil, 20 or use of indigenous registrars or a specific minorities registration section within State institutions, as in Panama, Peru and Thailand; alternatively, traditional birth attendants can improve birth registration rates, as has occurred in Ghana and Malaysia. 21 Birth registration should not, however, be a precondition for accessing health-care services. 16 17 18 19 20 21 Submission by Guatemala. See www.health.govt.nz/our-work/populations/maori-health/he-korowai-oranga. Kathryn Panaretto and others, “Aboriginal community controlled health services: leading the way in primary care”, Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 200, No. 11 (16 June 2014). Anna R. Coates and others, “Indigenous child health in Brazil: the evaluation of impacts as a human rights issue”, Health and Human Rights Journal, vol. 18, No. 1 (16 May 2016). Ibid. United Nations Children’s Fund, “Birth registration: right from the start”, Innocenti Digest series No. 9 (March 2002). 11