A/64/338 basis of the dialogue with Governments that the Special Rapporteur initiates or maintains concerning alleged human rights violations. IV. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 37. As noted, in its resolution 6/12 the Human Rights Council directed the Special Rapporteur to “promote the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and international instruments relevant to the advancement of the rights of indigenous peoples, where appropriate” (para. 1 (g)), thus providing a clear normative framework for his work. The Special Rapporteur is mandated to work cooperatively with States, indigenous peoples, United Nations and regional bodies and non-governmental organizations and to pay particular attention to both the obstacles preventing full enjoyment of indigenous peoples’ human rights and to best practices in overcoming these obstacles. This spirit of respect, cooperation and mutual understanding underlines the role of the Special Rapporteur in finding effective ways to fully realize the rights of indigenous peoples, which are affirmed in the United Nations Declaration, and in contributing to a better understanding — by all parties involved, and with their cooperation — of the legal, political, economic and institutional implications of the international recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples, and the implementation of the rights associated with such recognition. 38. The rights set forth in the United Nations Declaration serve as a platform for the cooperative manner in which the Special Rapporteur carries out his work, inform his collaboration with the United Nations mechanisms with which he engages and form the core of his concerted involvement with States, indigenous peoples’ organizations and civil society partners. Underscoring the central role the document plays in the promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples, the present section includes a brief discussion of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration, its general character and content and the operationalization of the rights set out in the Declaration by components of the United Nations system, States, indigenous peoples and their organizations and civil society partners. A. Adoption 39. During the last three decades, the demands for recognition of indigenous peoples across the world have led to the gradual emergence of a common body of opinion regarding the content of the rights of these peoples on the basis of longstanding principles of international human rights law and policy. This common normative understanding has been promoted by international and regional standardsetting processes; by the practice of international human rights bodies, mechanisms and specialized agencies; and by a significant number of international conferences and expert meetings. Furthermore, the emergence of this common understanding has been increasingly reflected in and supported by State practice and constitutional, legislative and institutional reforms at the domestic level. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the most important of these developments globally, encapsulating the widely shared understanding about the rights of indigenous peoples that has been building over decades on a foundation of previously existing sources of international human rights law. 09-50281 13