A/HRC/15/36 determination, the right to equality, the right to culture and the right to property. He stated that in his work as Special Rapporteur he has seen that for indigenous peoples, a lack of participation in the design and delivery of programmes that affect them can undermine the effective enjoyment of other key rights, such as the right to education and the right to health. 43. Several indigenous representatives commended the Expert Mechanism for the progress report. At the same time, they made a number of proposals as to the issues to be addressed further in the preparation of the final study, including further reflection on the principle of free, prior and informed consent and on the achievements and challenges faced by indigenous peoples in international forums. 44. In the concluding discussion, Mr. Henriksen thanked observers for their very valuable comments and suggestions aimed at improving the study. He said that while only the most pressing adjustments could be made in the progress report, the members of the Mechanism would continue to work on other issues, and that concerns could be dealt with in the context of the final study, which will be developed before the fourth session of the Mechanism. 45. He further noted that the discussions on the draft progress report demonstrated that the right to participation is of crucial importance in relation to the full spectrum of matters that affect the lives of indigenous peoples, and that this right forms the fundamental basis for the enjoyment of the full range of human rights. Mr. Henriksen welcomed the fact that there seemed to be broad agreement that the distinction between internal and external decision-making is a useful approach when elaborating on the right to participate in decision-making of indigenous peoples. He stressed that the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples establishes a good balance between the right to autonomy and selfgovernment in matters relating to their internal and local affairs of indigenous peoples and their participation in the society at large. In response to a direct question from a governmental delegation, Mr. Henriksen elaborated on why the Declaration in his view should not be perceived as promoting the isolation of indigenous peoples and communities. Mr. Henriksen also welcomed the suggestion that the study should also address the issue of constitutional arrangements for the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples, including their right to participate in decision-making, as well as suggestions to expand the content of chapter II, section D of the report. 46. Ms. Lasimbang commented on the requests to collect case studies and good practices on matters relating to indigenous peoples and the right to participate in decisionmaking, and recalled that those that had already been received and referenced in footnotes in the progress report were available on the OHCHR website linked to the documentation of the progress report. She stated that it would not be possible to go into the details of any additional case studies and good practices received in the course of finalizing the report, but the experts would consider including additional references to relevant submissions and also make these available on the website. She also noted the request to refer explicitly to pastoral and nomadic peoples and to issues on militarization in the context of participation in decision-making and urged experts on these subjects to make written submissions. 47. She further noted that the experts will endeavour to capture the rich discussion with regard to free, prior and informed consent and agreed that the current scope of the progress report is very limited in this respect. There is also a need to take into account comments by several speakers that decision-making within international institutions and platforms that affect peoples’ lives should be examined further. In this respect, she noted the concerns expressed about certain consensus-based decision-making frameworks, as well as the references to the Arctic Council as a good example for intergovernmental processes. 12