E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.3 page 23 Educational and social policy 76. The Government’s bilingual intercultural education programme needs an adequate budget if it is to be quickly and effectively implemented in all indigenous regions. The Special Rapporteur recommends that specific measures be taken to improve the assistance given to indigenous students at the secondary and higher university levels in the form of youth hostels, particularly in the south of the country. 77. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the Government’s efforts to continue improving welfare schemes for families, particularly those intended to help them discharge their responsibility to bring up and educate their children with respect for their cultural identity. In this context, he would encourage the Government to make a greater effort to coordinate activities aimed at reducing the number of indigenous children in need of institutional care and encouraging them to grow up in the family home. 78. The health services for indigenous communities should be expanded and adequately funded so that they fully meet the needs of the whole indigenous population, and the use of traditional indigenous medicine should be respected and promoted whenever possible. Publicizing indigenous issues 79. On the basis of the conclusions of the Historical Truth and New Deal Commission, which describe the realities faced by indigenous peoples throughout Chilean history, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government should conduct national and regional publicity campaigns to combat discrimination, encourage recognition of cultural diversity and assert and reinstate indigenous cultures as part of the country’s great cultural wealth. The promotion and protection of human rights 80. The Special Rapporteur joins with other international human rights mechanisms, such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in recommending that the necessary measures be taken to establish a national institution for the defence and protection of human rights, or an ombudsman, in Chile. In this context, the Special Rapporteur would encourage the Government to take this suggestion on board and draw up a specific timetable for the establishment of such an institution. An institution of this sort, with a broad mandate in line with the Paris Principles, would be of incalculable value in defending and protecting the rights of the country’s indigenous peoples, as well as being a clear sign of the State’s intentions towards its native peoples. B. Recommendations to the international community 81. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the United Nations country team should continue its efforts to ensure coordination on human rights issues and in this context encourages them to set up a special thematic group on indigenous issues that would help coordinate the response to the needs of this community.