A/HRC/12/34 page 8 20. During the course of his work, the Special Rapporteur has been asked to provide assistance with constitutional and legislative reform initiatives by providing orientation on how to harmonize those initiatives with relevant international standards. As reported to the Human Rights Council last year, shortly after assuming his mandate in May 2008, the Special Rapporteur was asked by indigenous organizations and the President of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador to provide technical assistance with the constitutional revision process. Ecuador’s new Constitution was approved by referendum in September 2008 with significant provisions affirming indigenous collective rights. The Special Rapporteur continues to monitor Ecuador’s implementation of those reforms and subsequent legislation. 21. The Special Rapporteur has also promoted good practices by encouraging positive steps that States have made. In December 2008, the Special Rapporteur was invited to attend a ceremony in Awas Tingni, Nicaragua, during which the Government handed over to that indigenous community the much-awaited title to its ancestral lands, as required by a 2001 judgement of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In a press release following the titling, the Special Rapporteur commended the Government of Nicaragua for taking affirmative steps to implement the judgement. The Special Rapporteur will continue to monitor progress towards ensuring that the rights of Awas Tingni to the titled lands are fully respected in practice by third parties and towards addressing the land and related claims of other indigenous communities. 22. Also, in April 2009, the Special Rapporteur visited Chile to assess the situation of the indigenous peoples, as a follow-up to the 2003 visit to the country by his predecessor. While many problems persist for indigenous peoples in Chile, the Government has taken important steps within the last year to advance the protection of their rights, including by ratifying in September 2008 International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (1989), and by committing to enact constitutional reforms to recognize and promote indigenous rights. In light of the constitutional reform process, the Special Rapporteur developed and submitted to the Government a report, which was subsequently made public, outlining and analysing the various applicable elements of the right to consultation, and providing examples of consultation mechanisms in other countries. The Government has initiated consultations with the indigenous groups of Chile on the constitutional reform process, and the Special Rapporteur continues to monitor their progress. 23. The Special Rapporteur participated in a seminar on indigenous rights in Jakarta, from 16 to 17 March 2009, sponsored by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (KOMNAS HAM) and the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN - Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara). At the seminar, KOMNAS HAN and AMAN announced an agreement for a joint programme for addressing indigenous issues - a good example of coordination between a State’s independent human rights commission and a major indigenous organization. 24. From 27 to 31 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur joined Saami representatives from throughout the Saami territory in the Nordic countries and Russia, Government representatives, and others in attendance at the 19th Saami Conference, in Rovaniemi, Finland. At the conference, the Special Rapporteur was able to meet with the Saami Council and the Saami