A/73/176 light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its commitment to leaving no one behind, much more needs to be done to address these inequalities. 24. Current development policies, which promote “megaprojects” in the extractive, energy, tourism, agribusiness and other sectors, represent a major challenge for indigenous peoples’ enjoyment of their human rights. There has been a significant increase in such investment projects, which take place on indigenous peoples’ lands and territories without appropriate consultations to obtain their free, prior and informed consent. This has led to land dispossession, negative environmental impacts, social conflict and the criminalization of indigenous community members opposing the projects. Moreover, when attempting to access justice for human rights violations relating to such investment projects, indigenous peoples face profound challenges, including their physical distance from justice administration institutions, language barriers, a lack of adequate legal assistance, fear of reprisals if a complaint is filed and a lack of appropriate protection mechanisms. 25. With regard to Guatemala, the Special Rapporteur also recognized that country’s active role in supporting the advancement of indigenous peoples ’ rights at the international level. The country, however, still faces serious challenges in implementing those commitments at the national level. Although indigenous peoples constitute the majority of the population in Guatemala, they have never participated on an equal footing in the political, social, cultural and economic life of the country. Indigenous peoples continue to face structural racism in their daily lives, as reflected in the lack of protection for their lands, territories and natural resources and in the difficulties they experience in gaining access to education, formal employment, health care, political participation and justice. The levels of inequality are increasing . Around 40 per cent of indigenous peoples still live in extreme poverty, and more than half of all indigenous children are malnourished. 26. The marginalization of indigenous peoples in Guatemala is rooted in historical and structural issues, including impunity, corruption, institutional weakness, inequality and continued patterns of violence and repression. The legacy of the violence and genocide committed during the internal armed conflict from 1960 to 1996 is still being felt today. Despite the 22 years that have passed since the signature of the Peace Agreements of 1996, compliance with the commitments therein has been extremely limited. The overall implementation rate of the Agreement on the Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples is only 19 per cent. The failure to implement the Peace Agreements has undermined progress in adopting measures in many areas, including land reform, recognition of indigenous authorities and justice, political participation and bilingual intercultural education. Of particu lar concern is the lack of legislation or a mechanism for the adjudication of the rights of indigenous peoples to lands, territories and natural resources. 27. The Special Rapporteur is extremely concerned about the resurgence of violence, forced evictions and the criminalization of indigenous peoples who defend their rights to their lands, territories and resources. She was particularly disturbed by the killings of several indigenous leaders during and shortly after her visit to Guatemala. E. Communications and cooperation with human rights mechanisms, relevant United Nations bodies and regional human rights organizations 28. As part of her mandate, the Special Rapporteur continuously addresses situations of alleged violations of the rights of indige nous peoples, through communications with Governments and other stakeholders. Since the submission of 18-11856 7/23