The Permanent Forum recommends that the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly ensure the meaningful participation of indigenous peoples and the Forum at the meetings of the 2019 high-level political forum on sustainable development, to be convened under the auspices of the Council and the Assembly in July and September 2019, respectively. The Forum stresses that the contributions of indigenous peoples to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda should be adequately reflected in the outcome document of the high-level political forums convened under the auspices of the Council and of the Assembly.
Recalling the recommendation contained in the report of its fifteenth session (E/2016/43-E/C.19/2016/11, para. 52), the Permanent Forum urges States to take measures for settlement, protection and security in post-conflict areas and for the construction of durable and lasting peace, promoting the full and effective inclusion of indigenous peoples, including indigenous women, in any initiative for peace and reconciliation. The Forum also recommends that the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and indigenous peoples, including women and young people, consider indigenous peoples’ traditional conflict resolution systems for achieving durable and lasting peace.
Indigenous Peoples are affected also by the legacy of forced evictions and relocations owing to the establishment by colonial powers of military bases and installations on their traditional lands and territories. The Permanent Forum recommends that colonial States, past and present, ensure remedy and reparations for the affected Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations entities, including the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues, take effective measures to support the promotion of indigenous languages and the successful implementation of the goals and objectives of the International Year, including in activities related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the systemwide action plan on the rights of indigenous peoples, the celebration of international days and other processes.
The Permanent Forum reiterates its position, as stated in the report on its twentieth session (E/2021/43, para. 10), urging Colombia to promote and guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples, in particular by achieving the goals and indicators set out in the “ethnic chapter” of the peace agreement. In this regard, the Permanent Forum wishes to offer its support, within the terms of its mandate, to facilitate dialogues between the Government of Colombia and indigenous peoples.
States should take effective measures to eliminate violence against indigenous peoples by studying the root causes of conflict and human rights abuses, developing indicators and methodologies for risk assessment and early warning mechanisms and improving national legislation for the administration of justice with regard to the perpetrators of war crimes.
The Permanent Forum invites the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination to conduct a study on the human rights abuses against Indigenous Peoples of the Sahel region by mercenaries and other non-State armed actors.
The Permanent Forum is concerned that, in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Member States are not complying with the Declaration. In one case, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination requested that Norway temporarily suspend the ongoing construction of the Fosen Vind onshore wind power project, which negatively affects the reindeer herding of the South Sami people. The Government of Norway, having concluded that its administrative and legal processes were sufficient, did not implement the interim measures. The Forum urges Member States to respect and comply with decisions made by the United Nations treaty bodies.
Decision-making bodies, including customary and traditional bodies of conflictaffected indigenous peoples, should be recognized as legitimate parties to conflict resolution efforts. Therefore, administrative and customary authorities and traditional leaders of indigenous peoples should receive training on peaceful dispute resolution. Relevant United Nations system entities, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and the International Organization for Migration, should mobilize the financial and technical resources necessary for the worldwide use of peacebuilding tools that have been tested with success in the Sahel and of the Congo Basin
The Permanent Forum urges Member States to contribute support to make possible the annual UNITAR training programme to enhance the conflict prevention and peacemaking capacities of indigenous peoples’ representatives so as to strengthen indigenous capacity to engage in negotiation, dialogue and peace processes to contribute to sustainable peace.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the intent of Nicaragua in drafting legislation on territorial regulation of Indigenous territories. The Permanent Forum urges Nicaragua to establish dialogue with the legitimate Indigenous authorities to initiate and conclude drafting of the legislation as soon as possible, in order to prevent repetition of the recent gross human rights violations against the Mayangna Sauni and Wilu communities, allegedly committed by armed settlers. It further urges Nicaragua to ensure that perpetrators are held to account through the justice system for the murders committed and for the destruction of property. Impunity is not an option.
The 2030 Agenda is now in its fourth year of implementation, yet few countries refer to indigenous peoples in their voluntary national reviews. The Permanent Forum therefore urges countries undertaking voluntary national reviews at the high-level political forum on sustainable development to include indigenous peoples under all Sustainable Development Goals.