A/64/338 the Special Rapporteur has confirmed his willingness to cooperate with the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and looks forward to exploring concrete ways in which he may enhance collaboration with the Commission and other regional bodies in the future. These current and potential initiatives are in line with Human Rights Council resolution 6/12, mandating the Special Rapporteur “… to develop a regular cooperative dialogue with … regional or subregional international institutions”. III. Areas of work 14. The Special Rapporteur has engaged in a range of activities within the terms of his mandate to monitor the human rights conditions of indigenous peoples worldwide and promote steps to improve those conditions in line with relevant international standards, including those of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Overall, the Special Rapporteur has tried to develop work methods oriented towards constructive dialogue with Governments, indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations, relevant United Nations agencies and other actors in order to address challenging issues and situations and build on advances already made. The various activities that he has carried out in this spirit can be described as falling within four interrelated spheres of activity: promoting good practices; thematic studies; country reports; and cases of alleged human rights violations. A. Promoting good practices 15. One area of the Special Rapporteur’s work follows from the directive given him by the Human Rights Council “to identify … and promote best practices” (resolution 6/12, para. 1 (a)). The Special Rapporteur has been focused on working to advance legal, administrative and programmatic reforms at the domestic level to implement the standards of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other relevant international instruments. Reform of this kind is a major undertaking, as it is full of all kinds of complexities and requires a strong commitment, both financial and political, on the part of Governments. 16. During the course of his work, the Special Rapporteur has been asked to provide assistance with constitutional and legislative reform initiatives by providing orientation on how to harmonize those initiatives with relevant international standards. Shortly after assuming his mandate in May 2008, the Special Rapporteur was asked by indigenous organizations and the President of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador to provide technical assistance with the constitutional revision process as part of the programme of technical assistance by UNDP in the country. During his working visit, the Special Rapporteur had the opportunity to engage in a constructive dialogue with members of the Constitutional Assembly, experts and representatives of indigenous organizations and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador. The Special Rapporteur submitted a number of observations to the Government regarding some of the issues raised during his working visit in the light of relevant international norms (see A/HRC/9/9/Add.1). Ecuador’s new Constitution was approved by referendum in September 2008 with 09-50281 7