A/HRC/18/43 indigenous peoples’ language and culture, to be held during the eighteenth session of the Human Rights Council. 21. Dr. Littlechild highlighted the fact that education must be a national priority, and made reference to human rights issues associated with residential schools for indigenous peoples. 22. Several organizations made interventions. Issues raised included the need to recognize traditional educational systems and the lack of funding. Concerns raised by indigenous representatives included the neglect of indigenous cultures within education systems, inadequate access to education by indigenous peoples and the importance of education provided in indigenous languages. 23. Some States described the different measures, plans and programmes they had adopted in relation to the right of indigenous peoples to education and how they had followed up on the recommendations contained in the study of the Expert Mechanism. 24. Mr. Morales Morales welcomed the interventions made by States and indigenous peoples and highlighted the need to work together. He added that the study clearly highlighted that education is one of the most effective ways to maintain indigenous cultures. 25. Ms. Lasimbang noted that many indigenous peoples sought to establish their own systems of education. She commented that the challenges associated with implementing the right to education in the indigenous context needed to be tackled by both States and indigenous peoples. She concluded by noting that she would welcome a continuation of discussion of this issue in future sessions. 26. Dr. Littlechild welcomed the initiatives undertaken by the different States in using the report, and encouraged other States to follow these good practices. He cited the importance of indigenous language and quality education for indigenous peoples. V. Study on indigenous peoples and the right to participate in decision-making 27. Ms. Lasimbang highlighted the fact that the final report on the study on indigenous peoples and the right to participate in decision-making complemented the progress report on the study, and includes Expert Mechanism advice No. 2. When summarizing the report, Ms. Lasimbang pointed out that it included examples of good practices in relation to indigenous peoples’ participation in decision-making, as requested by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 15/7, and drew on the research conducted by the Expert Mechanism, submissions received and an expert workshop held on the topic. She recalled that the Expert Mechanism welcomed comments from participants at the fourth session before it presented the report to the Human Rights Council at its eighteenth session. 28. John Henriksen, a former member of the Expert Mechanism and one of the two principal co-authors of the report, was introduced by the Chairperson-Rapporteur. He pointed out that the study had been written by previous members of the Expert Mechanism, and invited the current members to finalize it. He recalled that effective participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making is fundamental to their enjoyment of human rights. He highlighted three crucial concepts: (a) self-determination of indigenous peoples; (b) the duty of the State to consult indigenous peoples; and (c) the duty of the State to seek to obtain free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. He then briefly described the contents of the study. 29. Dr. Littlechild commented that the action of some States created barriers to the participation of indigenous peoples. He highlighted the difficulties facing indigenous peoples to obtain visas or to have their passports recognized, especially when they had to maintain relations across borders. 30. Observers raised several issues, such as the challenges associated with the implementation of the right to participate in decision-making at the national level, the importance of the right to participate in decision-making processes associated with public policies, the participation of indigenous women in decision-making, the right to selfdetermination, the right to free, prior and informed consent in relation to indigenous peoples’ 9