A/HRC/45/35 another’s worldviews. This has led to meaningful relationships, deep healing on both sides and the start of new collaborations through repatriation processes and cultural exchanges. 87. States should enact or reform legislation on repatriation in accordance with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular articles 11, 12 and 31, with the full and meaningful participation of indigenous peoples and the safeguard of free, prior and informed consent. This includes statutes, regulations and policies on museum collections, deaccession and repatriation. In case of ambiguities or challenges in implementation, the Declaration can be used as an interpretive tool. All such programmes for repatriation must be fully funded so that museums and indigenous peoples do not bear the burden that States have to comply with their human rights obligations. 88. States must recognize that indigenous peoples have their own concerns about human remains, ceremonial objects and cultural heritage and, when making claims for protection or repatriation, consider not only national interests but indigenous peoples’ own rights. Terms like “cultural property”, “cultural objects” and “cultural heritage” must be understood to include the ceremonial objects, human remains, spiritual and other properties of indigenous peoples. Similarly, a determination of whether an item is “illicit” or “stolen” property must include analysis not only of State laws, but the laws of indigenous peoples that set out standards of alienability, ownership, treatment and custody of ceremonial objects, human remains and spiritual, intellectual and other properties. 89. As parties seek to comply with the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, they should work in partnership with not only the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), national police forces, civil society and the International Council of Museums, but also indigenous peoples’ institutions specializing in cultural property and repatriation, such as the Association on American Indian Affairs in the United States of America and indigenous peoples’ mechanisms of the United Nations. With regard to repatriation of human remains, ceremonial objects and indigenous spiritual, intellectual and other properties, States must consult and seek the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, ensuring participation through their own representative institutions. The Expert Mechanism specifically urges States and indigenous peoples to enter into agreements regarding the ultimate return of these items to indigenous peoples’ territories, consistent with their own laws, customs and traditions, and/or alternative dispositions affirmatively requested by indigenous peoples. 90. UNESCO should consider ways of providing advice on repatriation to indigenous peoples and promoting opportunities under the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Some concrete measures that UNESCO could take include capacity-building for States parties and other stakeholders on repatriations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; developing databases of indigenous peoples’ ceremonial objects and human remains held by State museums, universities and other repositories that are accessible to the indigenous peoples concerned and also maintaining respectful protocols, such as not showing photographs of human remains and sacred items; and considering the establishment of an international indigenous repatriation review committee comprised of indigenous peoples, museum professionals, human rights experts and others to provide advice and assistance on these claims. 91. As the main international organization with a mandate to address issues related to traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources, the World Intellectual Property Organization has an essential role in the protection and repatriation of indigenous peoples’ intangible cultural heritage. The WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore should consider explicitly addressing repatriation and continue its efforts to facilitate indigenous peoples’ meaningful participation in this process. WIPO should strengthen its efforts to implement the rights articulated in the 18