A/64/338 significant provisions affirming indigenous collective rights. The Special Rapporteur continues to monitor Ecuador’s implementation of those reforms and subsequent legislation. 17. The Special Rapporteur has also promoted good practices by encouraging the positive steps taken by member States. In December 2008, the Special Rapporteur was invited to attend a ceremony in Awas Tingni, Nicaragua, during which the Government handed over to the indigenous community the long-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 ceremony, 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 the indigenous peoples 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. 18. In April 2009, the Special Rapporteur visited Chile to assess the situation of the indigenous peoples of that country, in follow-up to the 2003 visit to Chile by his predecessor. While indigenous peoples in Chile face persistent problems, the Government has taken important steps in recent years to advance the protection of their rights, including by ratifying, in September 2008, the ILO Convention (No. 169) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries of 1989 and by committing itself to the enactment of constitutional reforms to recognize and promote indigenous rights. In light of the constitutional reform process, the Special Rapporteur developed and submitted a report to the Government,3 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 indigenous groups in Chile on the constitutional reform process and the Special Rapporteur continues to monitor their progress. 19. 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 and the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago. At the seminar the Human Rights Commission and the Peoples’ Alliance announced an agreement on a joint programme to address indigenous issues — a good example of coordination between a State’s independent human rights commission and a major indigenous organization. 20. On 22 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur attended the sixty-fifth convention of the National Congress of American Indians, at which he provided a presentation on the use of international standards to strengthen the protections for the rights of indigenous peoples in the United States of America. The National Congress is a coalition of over 250 indigenous nations in the United States which works to inform decisions of the Government of the United States and Congress that affect indigenous peoples’ interests. 21. From 27 to 31 October 2008, the Special Rapporteur joined representatives of Saami communities from throughout the Saami territory in the Nordic countries and the Russian Federation, Government representatives and others in attendance at the nineteenth Saami Conference in Rovaniemi, Finland. At the conference, the Special __________________ 3 8 A/HRC/12/34/Add.6. 09-50281