A/60/358 increase in the number of communications sent both to this and to other special rapporteurs. 8. During his missions, the Special Rapporteur has observed that, although knowledge of the mechanisms is increasingly widespread among indigenous organizations, this knowledge also varies from one country to another. Thus, the lack of communications from certain countries should be attributed not to an absence of human rights violations, but to a lack of awareness of the international mechanisms available for the protection and promotion of human rights in general. 9. Since the Special Rapporteur submitted his first report to the Commission on Human Rights, there has been an increase in the number of replies from Governments to his urgent appeals and communications. However, he is concerned at the lack of replies from some Governments to the communications transmitted, and will continue to follow up these communications. He thanks those Governments which have replied fully and expeditiously to his communications. 10. The situations that have led to the intervention of the Special Rapporteur between the time of submission of his report to the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly and December 2004 are described at length in his report to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.1). This report contains a summary analysis of the main human rights problems affecting indigenous people, in addition to other information and references to cases that led to the intervention of the Special Rapporteur during the period under review. C. Visits 11. A key component of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate is the conduct of country visits for the purpose of informing the Commission on Human Rights about the situation of indigenous people and opening a constructive dialogue with Governments, indigenous communities and other relevant organizations. Country visits are an excellent means of facilitating the in situ analysis and understanding of the situation of indigenous people in their different circumstances and are also an important tool for raising awareness of these issues in the international community. In this context, efforts within the United Nations system should be stepped up to ensure that the hopes raised by these visits generate new and durable solutions to the problems faced by indigenous people in the countries visited. 12. With regard to observation missions, the Special Rapporteur submitted to the Commission on Human Rights the results of his visits to Colombia (E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.2) and Canada (E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.3). Below is a brief summary of the main conclusions and recommendations stemming from these visits. The Special Rapporteur undertook a mission to South Africa in August 2005 and will report thereon to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-second session. 13. During his visit to Colombia, the Special Rapporteur noted that even though the country has made more progress than its counterparts in the region in terms of recognizing the rights of indigenous people, it still faces enormous challenges with regard to the effective protection and promotion of indigenous people’s human rights and fundamental freedoms. The fact that existing provisions on indigenous issues are not being effectively implemented has undermined the country’s constitutional achievements. With regard to communities’ basic service needs, the 5