A/HRC/12/34 page 9 Parliaments in the Nordic countries to discuss ways of strengthening institutional arrangements for protecting Saami rights. The Saami Parliaments have become an increasingly effective means for Saami people to enhance control over matters affecting their lives and communities. 25. An important component of efforts to build good practices at the domestic level is a policy of commitment to advance the rights of indigenous peoples in accordance with the Declaration. This year, Australia, one of only four States to have voted against it, officially endorsed the Declaration and, in a widely circulated statement, committed to fully implement the standards contained therein. This is a welcome development in Australia’s policies towards indigenous peoples, which the Special Rapporteur noted in a press release issued jointly with the Chairpersons of the Expert Mechanism and the Permanent Forum in April 2009. Likewise, Colombia, which had abstained in the vote on the Declaration, sent a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 20 April 2009 expressing its support for the Declaration and the principles contained therein and “subscribed to the concepts of equality, respect for diversity, and non-discrimination that constitute the foundation of the Declaration”.2 26. In his future work, the Special Rapporteur will continue to promote positive developments, and reiterates his willingness to offer constructive technical and advisory assistance to Governments, companies, indigenous peoples and other stakeholders, where needed, in their efforts to establish legal, administrative, and programmatic initiatives and reforms in indigenous matters. The work of the Special Rapporteur in this regard will be oriented in practical terms and aimed at identifying and promoting models that can be applied in various contexts. The Special Rapporteur foresees detailing these models, where they exist and have been successful, in his subsequent annual reports to the Human Right Council and in other public reports. 2. Thematic studies 27. A second area of the Special Rapporteur’s work, which is intended to contribute to good practices in specific country situations, involves conducting or participating in studies on issues or themes that are of interest to indigenous peoples across borders and regions of the world. The former Special Rapporteur carried out a number of thematic studies to identify major issues and to provide a foundation for subsequent positive practical action and reform, including on the impacts of development projects on indigenous communities, the implementation of domestic laws and international standards to protect indigenous rights, indigenous peoples and the education system, the relationship between formal State law and customary indigenous law, and international norms concerning indigenous peoples. However, as previously noted, taking into consideration the establishment of the Expert Mechanism with a mandate to provide thematic expertise and recommendations to the Human Rights Council on issues affecting indigenous peoples, the Special Rapporteur now sees his own work carrying out thematic studies as secondary to the other areas of his work. His role will, for the most part, be complementary and supportive of the work of the Expert Mechanism. In this regard, early this year he provided information, based on his experiences as Special Rapporteur, for the Expert Mechanism’s current study on the right of indigenous peoples to education. 2 Letter from the Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.