The Forum expresses its support for the work of the Board of Trustees and the Advisory Group of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations and the United Nations Trust Fund for the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, urges Governments, non-governmental organizations and other private or public entities and individuals to contribute to the funds and supports the continuation of the activities of the Board of Trustees and Advisory Group of both Funds, which are considered a vital support to indigenous communities worldwide.
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.
The Permanent Forum also recommends that the Economic and Social Council and the Human Rights Council note the proposal to accredit indigenous peoples’ representative institutions as observers in the General Assembly and to consider accreditation for indigenous peoples’ representative institutions to participate in their meetings and meetings of their subsidiary bodies on issues affecting them.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Commission on the Status of Women consider the empowerment of indigenous women as a priority theme of its sixty-first session, in 2017, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration.
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, recognizing that indigenous peoples can contribute greatly a range of issues on the international agenda, encourages the President of the General Assembly to consider inviting representatives of indigenous peoples to other hearings and events.
The Permanent Forum calls on Canada and the United States of America to develop national action plans to realize the aims of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and appoint an ambassador or special envoy on global indigenous affairs to promote the rights of indigenous peoples globally, including on participation.
The Permanent Forum also requests that States and United Nations agencies engaging in those events [see rec.31] ensure strong linkages with the outcome document of the World Conference, with particular consideration of paragraph 33, and indigenous participation.
Recalling articles 3–4, 8, 18, 25–26 and 32 of the Declaration, the Permanent Forum urges African States to promote, recognize and protect the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources through the development of mechanisms to ensure the legal recognition of land and resource rights, the resolution of land disputes, fair and equitable redress, and the creation of permanent dialogue frameworks to facilitate political participation and representation of indigenous peoples in decision-making.
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.
The Permanent Forum urges the Secretary-General to convene, in consultation with the Forum and before its eighteenth session, regional consultations in each of the seven indigenous regions to discuss the modalities for the participation of indigenous people at the United Nations, including how the participation of indigenous representatives can be enhanced. The Forum urges Member States to support the organization of these regional consultations.
Member States must take urgent measures to guarantee adequate and effective participation by indigenous peoples in the design and implementation of national plans for the transition to clean and green energy. Where States have already begun the development of such plans without the participation of indigenous peoples, they must take remedial action.