A/HRC/18/35/Add.5 79. The land and resource rights provisions of the Indigenous Rights Law go well beyond what is provided in the previously existing laws – in particular the land and forestry codes29 – which together have comprehensively defined property or use rights in land and natural resources. 80. The Government will need to develop and fully implement a new procedure for demarcating and registering lands in accordance with indigenous peoples’ customary rights and tenure, and new mechanisms for identifying and securing specific rights in natural resources. These measures, which should be developed in consultation with indigenous peoples, will require substantial funding, technical expertise and dedicated personnel. 81. The Republic of the Congo should look to other countries that have longstanding work on indigenous land rights regimes, and experience in developing laws on indigenous land tenure. The United Nations agencies should provide technical assistance to facilitate this undertaking. 82. Additionally, the Government will need to ensure that all administrative practices and the application of all laws related to lands and natural resources align with the Indigenous Rights Law, interpreted in light of international standards concerning indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources. To this end, the Government should establish a mechanism to undertake a comprehensive review at the national level of all such laws and relevant institutions and procedures. Enhancing participation in decision making 83. Essential to implementing all aspects of the initiatives being taken to advance the rights of indigenous peoples in Congo is enhancing indigenous participation in decision-making. This requires, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, building greater opportunities for indigenous peoples to participate in decision-making processes of State institutions at all levels, as well as recognition, strengthening and accommodation of indigenous peoples own decision-making institutions and authority. Indigenous participation in various dimensions is instrumental to the right of self-determination and the empowerment of indigenous peoples to control their own destinies under conditions of equality. 84. The Indigenous Rights Law mandates the Government to establish by decree a procedure for consulting indigenous peoples regarding development projects or other measures that affect them (art. 3). Such a decree should itself be developed in consultation with indigenous peoples, which will require a coordinated effort with indigenous leaders, as well as among interested Government actors. 85. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to proceed with urgency to develop and adopt the consultation procedure required by the Indigenous Rights Law, in cooperation with indigenous peoples’ representatives. Given the complexities involved, the Government will have to secure adequate technical expertise to ensure effectiveness of the procedure, and its concordance with international standards. Care will have to be taken especially to ensure that the consultation procedure is devised to have as its objective – in accordance with article 3.6 of the Indigenous Rights Law and article 19 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – the obtainment of free, prior and informed consent. 29 20 Forestry Code (Law No. 16-2000 of 20 November 2006); Land Law (Law No 10-2004 of 26 March 2004).