2.8 Promoting ethnic mainstreaming and monitoring human rights safeguards concerning indigenous peoples 1. Reason for selection 1) In Point 24 of its independent opinion on Taiwan’s Initial National Report on ICERD, the NHRC opined that the current policies and bills related to ethnic mainstreaming leave a lot to be desired, particularly in terms of the discrepancy between policies for different ethnic groups. 2) According to Article 21, Paragraph 1 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia, in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security.” 3) In Point 36 of the concluding observations on Taiwan’s Third National Report on the Two Covenants, the IRC recommended that the government foster a collaborative relationship with indigenous peoples as soon as possible to modify the system that is currently in place. This is to ensure that the indigenous peoples’ free and prior informed consent is obtained at the conceptualization and planning stages of any development projects that might affect them. Other related mechanisms include providing fair compensation and returning ancestral lands to indigenous peoples. 2. Significance Monitoring Taiwan’s regulations and policies to ensure their 45