A/HRC/4/32 page 18 and in the Third Committee of the General Assembly, as well as the review of the Council’s mechanisms and procedures currently under way, point to the relevance of reviewing and updating existing United Nations mechanisms for the protection of indigenous rights, and the application of the experience and synergies established over more than two decades. A. Implications of the debate on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 77. One of the Council’s first actions was the adoption on 29 June 2006 of the text of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the recommendation of its final adoption by the General Assembly. The majority of the members of the Council supported the text, with the only dissenting votes coming from Canada and the Russian Federation. The Declaration has been subject to a prolonged gestation process that has actively involved States and indigenous organizations the world over, and its adoption was an outcome long awaited by the indigenous peoples and by the universal human rights community. In November 2006, the Third Committee of the General Assembly, through draft resolution A/C.3/L.18/Rev.1, decided to postpone the “consideration and adoption of measures” relating to the Declaration to the end of the sixty-first session of the Assembly. 78. The Declaration is a fundamental text for the protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples throughout the world, as well as a necessary adjunct to the universal human rights system. For this reason, the Special Rapporteur has actively advocated the adoption of the Declaration on various occasions before the General Assembly and considers that the Council must now reaffirm its commitment to the protection of millions of indigenous people the world over. 79. Having been adopted by the Human Rights Council, the Declaration is now an essential frame of reference for actions both by the Council itself and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and by other United Nations agencies. The Declaration will also serve as a guide for the actions of the international human rights treaty bodies. The Declaration must be a fundamental part of the discussion about future international standards relating to indigenous peoples, not only at the international level, but also in regional or specialized areas. Its adoption also gives a strong impetus to the clarification of emerging customary law concerning indigenous rights at the international level, and should similarly energize the processes of legislative reform and domestic court proceedings. 80. In view of the foregoing, the Special Rapporteur urges the General Assembly to adopt the Declaration during its current session. It also recommends to the Organization of American States that it should adopt as soon as possible the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and strengthen its support for the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and to the African Union that it should support and take into consideration the contributions being made to human rights by the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.