A/HRC/25/56/Add.1 Ministry, including through the establishment of the new national museum, which will have great potential to play a key role in education, awareness-raising and cultural preservation. 80. The current legal and administrative regulations governing land use, occupation and ownership do not offer certain minority and indigenous communities adequate protection of their land rights, and should be reviewed and amended to provide stronger legal protection against land grabbing, illegal eviction, forced displacement and ongoing land disputes. Specific legal and policy measures are required to protect the land rights of those who practice nomadic, transhumance and hunter-gatherer lifestyles, including their right to have access to traditional forest habitats and to use land seasonally for grazing. 81. The Government is urged to ratify ILO Convention No. 169. Importantly, the Convention requires that indigenous and tribal peoples be consulted on issues that affect them and be able to engage in policy and development processes that affect them. It also requires their free, prior and informed consent for projects implemented on their lands and territories. A specific national law on the rights of minority and indigenous peoples should be drafted in consultation with the communities concerned. 82. Local disputes, including over land and inter-community affairs, are commonplace and must be effectively settled and prevented to avoid tensions emerging and growing between communities. It is essential that Government leaders at the local and national levels consult and involve grass-roots community representatives in decision-making processes in order to maintain the peaceful coexistence of the various ethnic and religious groups. National human rights commitments must be better implemented and monitored at the local level. 83. Mechanisms should be established, in consultation with communities, to ensure that local leadership structures and chiefdoms function in the interests of all communities without discrimination. Effective oversight mechanisms and complaint procedures should be put in place to ensure that paramount chiefs and others with lower-level authority are subject to appropriate review and that community members from all groups have channels through which to challenge decisions or register complaints. 84. The Independent Expert acknowledges the significant efforts made by the Government to ensure free primary education for all children. She however urges it to intensify specific, targeted efforts to improve education access and outcomes for children from minority communities. Education initiatives should be developed in close consultation with minority communities and non-governmental organizations, and should be sensitive to the specific situations of such groups and their cultures, traditions, lifestyles and languages. 85. The State should strengthen legislative and policy measures to ensure the political participation of groups that are currently underrepresented in political and decision-making bodies at the local, regional and national levels, including the Pygmy, Mbororo and other communities. Existing measures, including those relating to electoral processes, should be reviewed and, where necessary, revised or clarified and their implementation evaluated to ensure that they are fit for their intended purpose. The Independent Expert urges the State to consider the recommendations made at the second Forum on Minority Issues in this regard.27 27 20 See A/HRC/13/25.

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