E/C.12/LKA/CO/5 interpreters in every government institution, including at the provincial level, and the allocation of adequate financial resources for its implementation. 69. The Committee is concerned at the socioeconomic marginalization of the Veddah people. It is also concerned that the State regulation of land, forest and agriculture, in particular the designation of large tracts of land as national parks and sanctuaries, has had a detrimental impact on the livelihoods and traditional ways of living of the Veddah people and has led to repeated displacement. The Committee is alarmed by the fact that only around 20 per cent of Veddah children attend school, which is a consequence of early marriages (arts. 2 and 15). 70. The Committee recommends that the State party conduct a comprehensive census that includes the element of the right to free self-identification of the Veddah people and that it address the root causes of their socioeconomic marginalization. It also recommends that the State party ensure that the declaration of land as national parks and sanctuaries is always done in close consultation with those affected, especially the Veddah people. The Committee also urges the State party to ensure that all Veddah children attend school until the end of compulsory school age. The Committee also recommends that the State party ratify the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). Transitional justice, reparations and economic, social and cultural rights 71. While recognizing the efforts of the State party to adopt mechanisms of transitional justice to provide, among other objectives, reparation to victims of the armed conflict, most of whom are in a situation of poverty, the Committee is concerned that these efforts are not clearly articulated in the different policies aimed at the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. 72. The Committee recommends that the State party make every effort to ensure that economic, social and cultural rights are integrated into the policies and mechanisms on transitional justice. D. Other recommendations 73. The Committee encourages the State party to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 74. The Committee recommends that the State party take fully into account its obligations under the Covenant and ensure the full enjoyment of the rights enshrined therein in the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda at the national level, with international assistance and cooperation when needed. Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals would be significantly facilitated by the State party establishing independent mechanisms to monitor progress and treating beneficiaries of public programmes as rights holders who can claim entitlements. Implementing the Goals on the basis of the principles of participation, accountability and non-discrimination would ensure that no one is left behind. 75. 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 with regard to various segments of the population. In this 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 on Human Rights (HRI/MC/2008/3). 76. The Committee requests the State party to disseminate the present concluding observations widely among all levels of society at the national, provincial and local 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 with non- 10