A/HRC/27/52 III. Ongoing obstacles to the full realization of indigenous peoples’ rights 10. There is a strong legal and policy foundation upon which to build the implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights, and there have been many advances, which the Special Rapporteur hopes to examine and document during the course of her mandate. Nevertheless, many challenges continue to confront indigenous peoples throughout the world. As noted above, a core aspect of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur is to examine ways and means of overcoming existing obstacles to the full and effective protection of the rights of indigenous peoples. As an initial step, and given that the present report is her first to the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur would like to identify in broad strokes some of those obstacles which are found to some extent in all countries in which indigenous peoples are living. 11. The obstacles identified in the present section are (a) the failure or reluctance of governments to recognize indigenous peoples; (b) challenges in the development of practical implementation measures; (c) reconciliation and redress for historical wrongs yet to be completed; (d) ongoing negative attitudes towards indigenous peoples on the part of the broader societies in which they live; and (e) social and economic conditions preventing the full exercise of indigenous peoples’ human rights. The list is of course neither comprehensive nor exhaustive and the obstacles identified above are in many ways interrelated. It is meant, however, to provide a framework for understanding where further work is needed and to assist in developing measures for action. While the Special Rapporteur fully acknowledges the difficulties in confronting and overcoming those continuing problems, she hopes to be able to make headway on tackling some of the obstacles during the course of her mandate. A. Recognition of indigenous peoples 12. One barrier to the implementation of the international human rights standards concerning indigenous peoples relates to how the concept of “indigenous peoples” is applied in relation to certain groups, as its application can be both under- and overinclusive: the indigenous rights framework can be applied in relation to groups that share characteristics similar to indigenous peoples worldwide and, to a somewhat lesser extent, to groups that do not. Clearly, the human rights situation of groups around the world is diverse and complex, and varies from country to country and community to community, and yet there are issues and circumstances that are common to certain groups that are generally identified as indigenous peoples. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that, by failing to recognize groups as indigenous peoples, States and other powerful actors avoid applying the international standards and protection mechanisms that are most appropriate to address the kinds of human rights concerns that these groups face in common with groups which are generally identified as indigenous around the world. 13. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur would like to emphasize that this is not a problem resulting from, or which can be resolved by, attempting to arrive at an international definition of “indigenous peoples”. As is often repeated in the literature on the subject, no such definition exists. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples does not attempt to provide one, although it does affirm that indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions (art. 33). For its part, International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 (1989) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries refers to self-identification “as a fundamental criterion for determining the groups to which the provisions of this Convention apply” (art. 1, para. 2) and notes that the 6