E/C.12/CAN/CO/6
promotion of African art and culture, which adds to the structural discrimination faced by
that group in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights in the State party (art.
15).
60.
The Committee recommends that the State party step up the efforts needed to
promote the preservation and use of indigenous languages, including by ensuring that
provinces and territories teach and use indigenous language at schools, where
appropriate. The Committee recommends that the State party promote and increase
the funding to the art and culture of African-Canadians and, to that end, use the
International Decade for People of African Descent, proclaimed by General Assembly,
as a vehicle to promote and protect the human rights of that group.
D.
Other recommendations
61.
The Committee encourages the State party to ratify the Optional Protocol to
the the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
62.
The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to progressively
develop and apply appropriate indicators on the implementation of economic, social
and cultural rights, in order to facilitate the assessment of progress achieved by the
State party in the compliance of its obligations under the Covenant for various
segments of the population. In that context, the Committee refers the State party to,
inter alia, the conceptual and methodological framework on human rights indicators
developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(see HRI/MC/2008/3).
63.
The Committee requests that the State party disseminate the present
concluding observations widely at all levels of society at national, provincial and
territorial levels, particularly among parliamentarians, public officials and judicial
authorities, and that it inform the Committee in its next periodic report about the
steps taken to implement them. The Committee also encourages the State party to
engage non-governmental organizations and other members of civil society in the
process of consultation at the national level prior to the submission of its next periodic
report.
64.
The Committee requests the State party to submit its seventh periodic report,
to be prepared in accordance with the reporting guidelines adopted by the Committee
in 2008 (E/C.12/2008/2), by 31 March 2021. It also invites the State party to update its
common core document, as necessary and in accordance with the harmonized
guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties
(HRI/GEN/2/Rev.6, chap. I).
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