A/HRC/45/34/Add.1 (e) Greater efforts are needed to ensure national and international efforts to alleviate poverty include special measures to make these activities and services culturally appropriate for indigenous peoples, particularly with respect to education, health services (in particular reproductive and maternal health services) and incomegenerating activities. In addition, all government actions in favour of indigenous peoples should aim at promoting indigenous people’s participation in decision-making and autonomy and a strong gender perspective; (f) Conservationists and international donors concerned with the environment and the preservation of biodiversity should promote and fund indigenous-led conservation initiatives while focusing restrictive measures on threats to ecosystems coming from non-indigenous sources, including criminal poaching networks, corruption and unsustainable forest exploitation; (g) In this respect, the Special Rapporteur invites the Government, its United Nations supporting partners and conservation organizations in the Congo to consider the recommendations included in her report on conservation. 34 She recommends that conservation organizations adopt human rights policies and monitor the application of human rights-based conservation programmes, and that culturally appropriate and independent complaints mechanisms be made available for indigenous peoples to voice their concerns over conservation initiatives and support initiatives for indigenous peoples’ right to remedy in cases when conservation activities have negatively affected their rights; (h) The United Nations should, with guidance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, assist the Government and indigenous peoples to carry out training and peer-to-peer exchanges to promote greater knowledge of international standards and good practices regarding indigenous peoples’ rights. The Government should consider inviting other special procedures to visit the Congo and obtain additional concrete advice on how to improve the human rights situation of indigenous peoples and others in the country. 34 20 A/71/229.

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