A/HRC/51/28 international instruments, including article 8 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and article X of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 14. A comprehensive international legal framework is needed to protect indigenous women’s self-determined development and ownership and control of their scientific and technical knowledge. Until that time, there are a number of international bodies and mechanisms that can be used to support their rights. Indigenous women are entitled to internationally recognized human rights, including the individual and collective right to the protection of scientific and technical knowledge in accordance with the legal standards set out in a number of international instruments. A. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 15. Article 11 of the Declaration recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies, visual and performing arts and literature. Article 31 recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain, control, develop and protect traditional knowledge as well as manifestations of science, technologies and cultures, including seeds, medicines and knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora. The right to traditional medicines, health practices and the conservation of vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals are specifically identified in article 24. Although all the provisions of the Declaration apply equally to both women and men, article 22 recognizes that particular attention shall be paid to the special needs of women. B. United Nations human rights treaties 16. The right to culture is affirmed in article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights has elaborated on this right in its general comment No. 21 (2009), notably recognizing the collective aspect of the cultural rights of indigenous peoples by stating that the values of cultural life “may be strongly communal” and “can only be expressed and enjoyed as a community by indigenous peoples” and that: “Indigenous peoples have the right to act collectively to ensure respect for their right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures” (paras. 15, 36 and 37). Articles 29 and 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child recognize the right of indigenous children to enjoy their own culture, religion and language. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women further recognizes that women are entitled to be free from discrimination. C. Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) 17. The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), establishes in article 5 that “the social, cultural, religious and spiritual values and practices of these peoples shall be recognized and protected, and due account shall be taken of the nature of the problems which face them both as groups and as individuals”. Article 23 states that: “Handicrafts, rural and community-based industries, and subsistence economy and ‘traditional’ activities of the peoples concerned, such as hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering, shall be recognised as important factors in the maintenance of their cultures and in their economic self-reliance and development.” D. Regional human rights instruments 18. Article 17 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights states that every individual may freely take part in the cultural life of his community and that it shall be the 5