E/CN.4/2005/88 page 2 Summary Since the preparation of his third annual report to the Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people has undertaken two official country missions, to Colombia (8-17 March 2004) and Canada (21 May-4 June 2004), to observe the situation of indigenous peoples. The country mission reports are contained in documents E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.2 and 3 respectively. He has continued to maintain extensive contact with indigenous representatives throughout the world and at international meetings. He also continues to cooperate actively with United Nations bodies and agencies on issues concerning indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples are among the world’s most socially marginalized and dispossessed groups. They are generally the victims of various types of discrimination and denial of their basic rights. They have been dispossessed of their lands and resources, languages, culture and forms of government, and are often denied access to basic social services (including education, health and food, water, sanitation and housing). As education is of critical importance for indigenous peoples’ full enjoyment of their human rights, the Special Rapporteur has decided to focus his fourth annual report on this topic. The present report focuses on the obstacles, disparities and challenges facing indigenous peoples with regard to access to and quality of education and the cultural appropriateness of educational approaches. It also contains examples of good practice and initiatives aimed at solving the educational problems of indigenous peoples in various countries. The Special Rapporteur recommends to Governments that they attach high priority to the objectives and principles of indigenous education and that they provide public and private agencies and institutions involved in promoting indigenous education with sufficient material, institutional and intellectual resources; he invites them to prepare, in close collaboration with indigenous communities, programmes for the training of an adequate number of bilingual and intercultural education teachers during the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People and invites the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and international cooperation partners in general to become involved in this effort. He further recommends that indigenous universities be expanded and strengthened and that courses on indigenous peoples (including their history, philosophy, culture, art and lifestyles) be broadened at all levels of national education, with an anti-racist and multicultural focus that reflects cultural and ethnic diversity and, in particular, gender equality. The Special Rapporteur urges that special attention be paid to the relationship between indigenous peoples and the environment, and that participatory scientific research be promoted in this area (with special attention paid to vulnerable environments such as the Arctic, the forests of the far North, tropical forests and high mountain areas). The Special Rapporteur also recommends that, as part of the effort to strengthen the various kinds of indigenous education, emphasis be placed on strengthening physical education, special training in the criminal justice system for indigenous people, education in all areas for indigenous girls and women, distance learning, adult education and continuing education. It is recommended that universities and research institutes become more involved in the preparation of special multidisciplinary curricula for indigenous education.