A/HRC/12/34/Add.2 page 8 19. Also significant is the Indigenous Peoples’ Social Agenda, a Government programme launched in 2007 to advance a series of inter-ministerial actions aimed at improving the living conditions of indigenous peoples. The programme established benchmarks for action in three areas: (a) protection of indigenous lands; (b) promotion of indigenous cultures and economic self-sufficiency; and (c) enhancement of indigenous peoples’ quality of life. 20. Signifying an international commitment to respect and promote the rights of indigenous peoples in line with contemporary standards, on 25 July 2002 Brazil ratified International Labour Organization Convention (No. 169) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (hereafter “Convention 169”), and the Convention’s implementation was mandated by a presidential decree in 2004.5 Also a reflection of this commitment, Brazil voted in favour of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (hereafter “United Nations Declaration” or “Declaration”) on 13 September 2007. C. Self-determination of indigenous peoples 21. Overall, the human rights situation of indigenous peoples in Brazil can be described as involving both steps toward, and ongoing barriers to, the realization of their right to self-determination. The Special Rapporteur notes with satisfaction the advanced nature - relative to other countries - of Brazil’s applicable law and many of its policies and programmes concerning indigenous peoples. Despite the notable advances, however, indigenous peoples’ human rights, beginning with their fundamental right to self-determination, have yet to be fully realized. 22. The United Nations Declaration affirms, in its article 3, that “[i]ndigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they determine their own political status and pursue their own economic, social and cultural development”. This provision of the Declaration, which mirrors common article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Brazil is a party, responds to the aspirations of indigenous peoples worldwide to be in control of their own destinies under conditions of equality, and to participate effectively in the making of all decisions affecting them. The right of self-determination is a foundational right, without which indigenous peoples’ other human rights, both collective and individual, cannot be fully enjoyed. 23. The Declaration, through its overall structure and article 46, makes clear that the exercise of self-determination for indigenous peoples is to be exercised within the framework of the unity and territorial integrity of the State, just as it ordinarily is to be exercised by all other peoples. Promoting self-determination for indigenous peoples can only strengthen Brazil as a democratic State respectful of diversity, by enabling indigenous peoples to become full participants in the life of the State with due regard for their own cultural patterns, authority structures and connections to land. The Government has expressed a commitment to self-determination in these terms, and has initiated a number of programmes to that end. 5 Decree 5.051, 19 April 2004.