E/CN.4/2002/97 page 6 5. This first report to the Commission is not a narrative of the Special Rapporteur’s activities during the six months which have elapsed since his appointment. Rather, he wishes to provide a panorama of the main human rights issues besetting indigenous people at the present time, give consideration to appropriate ways of dealing with human rights concerns brought to his attention by ensuring that there is no “protection gap” in processing human rights complaints, and to set out a framework and agenda for his activities in the future. The report consists of four parts. Section I provides a partial overview of activities carried out in the United Nations system in relation to the human rights of indigenous people. Section II deals with the principal issues and problems that indigenous peoples are facing, which have come up repeatedly in their presentations to the United Nations and elsewhere. Section III presents a sample, in summarized form, of the main content of numerous communications to the Special Rapporteur. Finally, in the last section, an outline of the Special Rapporteur’s future activities is proposed. The Special Rapporteur hopes to be able to elaborate on some of the points not satisfactorily covered in this report on the occasion of his oral presentation to the Commission on Human Rights. I. BACKGROUND 6. The formal activities of the United Nations concerning indigenous issues began in 1970 with the recommendation by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities that a comprehensive study of the problem of discrimination against indigenous populations be undertaken, followed by the appointment of a special rapporteur to carry out the study. This was followed by the establishment of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP), which was to review developments pertaining to the promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous populations and give special attention to the evolution of standards concerning the rights of such populations. It held its first annual session in 1982. 7. The WGIP has been meeting annually since 1982 to consider developments in the situation of indigenous populations and recommend standards for the protection and promotion of their human rights. Over the years the Working Group has provided an open forum for indigenous participation and devoted its discussions to numerous topics concerning the human rights of indigenous peoples, such as the land issue, the right to development, cultural heritage and intellectual property, health and education. Its annual reports to the Sub-Commission comprise a wealth of information on the human rights situation of indigenous peoples and the accumulated communications and interventions of indigenous associations and other non-governmental organization (NGOs) provide a rich overview of current concerns. In obtaining information for his activities, the Special Rapporteur expects to draw extensively on this material. Special acknowledgement must be accorded to the work of Ms. Erica-Irene Daes, the chairperson of the WGIP for almost 20 years, under whose guidance the WGIP produced the “Draft United Nations declaration on indigenous rights”, which is currently being considered by the Commission. 8. The proclamation of the International Year for the World’s Indigenous Peoples (General Assembly resolution 45/164), followed by the proclamation of the International Decade (Assembly resolution 48/163) expressed the growing interest of the international community in the fate of indigenous peoples and reflected the fact that the “indigenous” question has become a key issue on the international human rights agenda.