A/HRC/21/54
existing national laws and policies which relate to specific areas of the Declaration such as
education and culture. However, it is unclear whether these laws and policies were
developed to specifically to implement the goals of the Declaration.
9.
Some States, such as New Zealand and Norway, indicated that existing national laws
and policies already conformed to the principles contained in the Declaration and therefore
they have not developed additional strategies to implement the Declaration. Australia noted
synergies between existing policies addressing Aboriginal peoples and the Declaration.
10.
The response of the Plurinational State of Bolivia did not explicitly indicate whether
it had a specific strategy to implement the Declaration. However, its national development
plan, entitled “Bolivia digna, soberana, productiva y democrática para vivir bien”, was
developed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the objectives of the second
International Decade of Indigenous Peoples. Chile’s strategy to implement its international
obligations in relation to indigenous peoples domestically is focused on five areas: culture,
identity and education; land; institutional capacity; participation and consultation; and
integral development. This policy was developed through dialogue with the nine
indigenous peoples in the country.
11.
Australia, despite not having a formal strategy for implementing the Declaration,
cited its 2009 National Apology to Australia’s indigenous peoples, and in particular to the
stolen generations, as a symbolic gesture signalling its commitment to implementing the
Declaration.
12.
The majority of the responses did not provide details on the scope and nature of
States’ national implementation plans. Nor did State responses indicate how these laws and
policies were developed or whether they were developed in consultation with indigenous
peoples.
B.
1.
Legal, policy or other measures adopted especially to implement the
rights in the Declaration
All the rights in the Declaration
13.
The Plurinational State of Bolivia has passed Law No. 3760 of 7 November 2007,
on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In its response,
Bolivia provided extensive information on laws and programmes that are relevant to the
implementation of the rights in the Declaration, including in the areas of education and
languages, communications and media, housing, economic policies, food security, land and
agricultural development, justice and women’s rights in the administration of justice in
particular, human rights, land, water, consultation processes, decolonization and processes
to reduce patriarchy.
14.
Chile also provided a comprehensive overview (article by article) of measures to
implement the rights set out in the Declaration. Its response focused on five areas: culture,
identity and language; land; institutions; participation and consultation; and development.
These measures ranged from laws to policies and programmes.
15.
In 2011, the Congo passed a law for the promotion and protection of the rights of
indigenous peoples, which incorporates the fundamental principles of the Declaration. The
law addresses many areas including consultation, administration of internal affairs and
recourse to customs to resolve internal conflicts, protection of customs and traditional
institutions, intellectual property relating to traditional knowledge, protection of sacred
sites, education, and individual and collective property rights.
6