A/72/186 develop adequate public policies to comply with this commitment. For some countries, the role of the donor community in this regard is important. Cooperation and aid should explicitly conform to the Declaration as the standard to be applied in the activities supported in relation to indigenous peoples. Several States have developed guidelines and other instruments framing their aid and cooperation activities within the Declaration, such as Australia, Denmark, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. 42. In line with the Declaration, the mandate holder has consistently underlined the key right of indigenous peoples to decide their own development path, and to maintain their own systems and institutions, including in the fields of economic activities, education, health and activities related to multilateral environmental agreements. 49 Therefore, priority should be given to supporting indigenous peoples ’ own initiatives. 43. While there are some good practices of indigenous -led initiatives supported by States, it remains a serious concern that certain traditional livelihoods and indigenous economic practices are still disregarded and marginalized in many countries, in disregard of article 20 of the Declaration. This is the case with traditional pastoralism in eastern Africa, hunting and gathering, traditional agricultural practices such as shifting cultivation in South-East Asia, small-scale traditional fishing in many coastal areas, or reindeer -herding in the Arctic. Moreover, the contributions of these indigenous livelihoods and economic activities to the general economy are not adequately valuated and taken into account. The right of indigenous peoples to continue practising their traditional livelihoods is often violated in contrast with the protection of the rights and claims of those dominating the national economy. VIII. Institutional framework 44. Many countries have established national institutions devoted to indigenous peoples in order to implement relevant legislation and policies, including in the countries visited by the mandate holder during the past decade. In spite of the commitment by staff, and the constructive and proactive role these institutions could play, many have a low rank among State institutions and are underresourced. Thus, the capacities of these bodies to perform an effective role in the protection and implementation of the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples are severely limited. 50 Some of these institutions incorporate indigenous staff and have developed good participatory mechanisms for indigenous peoples but, in other cases, there is no participation of indigenous peoples at all, or the mechanisms in place to facilitate such participation are not adequate. 45. The establishment of special departments within different Ministries focused on indigenous peoples and parliamentary commissions on indigenous issues can be instrumental in the development of appropriate measures to achieve the ends of the Declaration. Within the justice system, some countries have established specialized Public Prosecutor’s Offices which play an important role in trying to ensure access __________________ 49 50 12/23 See for example mission reports of the Special Rapporteur on the Republic of the Congo (2011); Namibia (2013); Paraguay (2015) and the Sápmi region (2016). On State control of indigenous economic activities for environmental reasons see, for example, the communications sent by the Special Rapporteur to the Russian Federation (see A/HRC/27/52/Add.4) and Ethiopia (see A/HRC/9/9/Add.1). Examples include Fundação Nacional do Índio (FUNAI) in Brazil; Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena (INDI) in Paraguay; Department of Indigenous and Afro -Honduran Peoples in Honduras; and Instituto Nacional de Asuntos Indígenas (INAI) in Argentina. 17-12399