A/HRC/27/64 62. Several participants referred to the link between education, including human rights education, and access to justice. In that regard, the technical secretariat of the United Nations Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership highlighted an initiative that it supported in the Republic of the Congo, whereby the 2011 Law on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Populations was being translated into indigenous languages and its contents were being disseminated via television and radio. 63. Several participants discussed the challenges that language and cultural barriers posed to indigenous peoples when accessing justice, particularly the non-recognition of their languages. In that regard, Mr. Tsykarev pointed out that legal proceedings often ignored the language and culture of indigenous peoples, and that it was crucial to build the capacity of judges, lawyers and prosecutors in such a way as to provide them with a better understanding of the traditions and rights of indigenous peoples. Making reference to some cases, he stressed the need to respect the identity and linguistic rights of indigenous individuals in the criminal justice system, regardless of whether a defendant was guilty or not. Several States, including Mexico and Guatemala, described programmes run in their countries for facilitating interpretation and translation into indigenous languages in legal proceedings. 64. Some participants contributed specific suggestions for strengthening the text of the study. One participant suggested that, in addition to calling for greater gender balance in indigenous and non-indigenous justice systems, the text should also call for greater representation of indigenous women in international legal systems, such as the human rights treaty bodies. The same participant also called for a distinction to be made in the study between “ancestral courts”, rooted in indigenous juridical concepts, and those modelled on colonial juridical concepts. 65. In closing the discussion on the study, Mr. Titus suggested that the advice should include a point on the role that national human rights institutions could play in contributing to the dissemination and promotion of the advice of the Expert Mechanism among the judiciary and the legal profession, so that it could be used to inform legal cases and opinions. VIII. Study and advice on the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples in disaster risk reduction, prevention and preparedness initiatives 66. Mr. Deterville introduced the study on the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples in natural disaster risk reduction, prevention and preparedness initiatives. Before going on to provide a summary of the study, he expressed his thanks to all those who had contributed to it. He underlined that since an expert seminar had not been held on the topic of the study, the seventh session provided an opportunity to receive additional contributions regarding the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples in disaster risk reduction initiatives, as well as to receive feedback from States and indigenous peoples on the study’s contents. 67. Several State delegations made reference to both good practices and remaining challenges in addressing the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples in the context of disaster risk reduction. For example, the United States of America mentioned an outreach campaign specifically for tribal governments, which was designed to raise awareness and build emergency management capacity and was entitled Ready Indian Country. Guatemala described initiatives that it had taken, such as the development of risk and vulnerability maps with the participation of indigenous women, as well as several training and awareness-raising initiatives on disaster risk reduction specifically targeted at 15