A/69/267 10. In spite of such progress, the Special Rapporteur notes that there is still a considerable implementation gap with regard to the effective realizatio n of these rights. The long history of colonization and attempts at assimilation of indigenous peoples has continuing effects today. In nearly all of the countries in which they live, indigenous peoples fare worse than non-indigenous sectors of the population in terms of their development, including levels of poverty, education, health, unemployment, housing conditions, clean water and sanitation. Furthermore, in a number of States, indigenous peoples’ development strategies and aspirations are still met with negative stereotyping and their contributions in terms of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services and sustainable food production, for example, are often not well understood. 11. Experiences and lessons learned from the global and national efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals have shown that indigenous peoples are still frequently excluded from mainstream development efforts and face severe obstacles when attempting to follow their own development paths. In the following sections, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to these lessons learned, underlining the importance of taking them into account in the efforts to reach agreement on the sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda. III. Economic, social and cultural rights as they apply to indigenous peoples A. Complementarity of instruments: universality of duties 12. As noted above, development measures have historically been exclusive, carried out at the expense of indigenous peoples or aimed at their assimilation. These trends have been gradually, albeit not sufficiently, reversing over past decades. The movement away from exclusive and assimilationist development is reflected in the international human rights framework overall, and especially in the specific human rights standards that apply to indigenous peoples, such as the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As has been emphasized by the previous Special Rapporteur (see A/68/317, para. 70), the Declaration does not create new or special rights or privileges for indigenous peoples, but is to be understood as a remedial instrument that provides the necessary minimum standards for indigenous peoples to be able to enjoy the full range of their huma n rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination. 13. This is true in the context of economic, social and cultural rights, in particular as reflected in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, a human rights instrument of universal applicability. The Declaration mirrors universal human rights contained in this and other instruments, and contextualizes these to the situation of indigenous peoples by emphasizing their collective aspects, building on the complementary principles of non-discrimination and selfdetermination, as noted below. Hence, the Special Rapporteur stresses that the duty of States to respect, protect and fulfil indigenous peoples ’ economic, social and cultural rights is based not only on their commitment to specific instruments on indigenous peoples’ rights, such as the Declaration and ILO Convention No. 169, but is an integral element of their duty under the International Convenant and other applicable human rights instruments. 14-58847 5/23