While the concept of indigenous peoples in Africa has been conceptualized and adopted by African Union bodies, including at the Heads of State summits, there remains a need to raise awareness of indigenous peoples on the continent and for robust and effective measures, including legislative measures, to ensure recognition of and respect for their human rights. Likewise, while the rights of indigenous peoples have been supported in African courts and in decisions by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, gaps in implementation remain widespread. The Permanent Forum urges the concerned States to implement the decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including in the Endorois case; the order of provisional measures of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the Ogiek case; and the decision of the High Court of Botswana in the case concerning the Kalahari Game Reserve. These cases are important because they contribute to the development of jurisprudence on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States ensure that the territories of indigenous peoples in Asia be free of State military interventions and that military bases, camps and training centres established in indigenous territories without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples be removed immediately, consistent with articles 19 and 30 of the Declaration.
The Forum urges the members of the advisory council for the Voluntary Fund for the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People to allocate funds to indigenous youth-initiated projects and activities
The Permanent Forum appoints Darío José Mejía Montalvo, a member of the Forum, to conduct a study on the rights of indigenous peoples facing the global energy mix and to present that study to the Forum at its twenty-first session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council consider the development of a framework for the implementation of article 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as adopted by the Human Rights Council, to assess implementation of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous peoples in all regions of the world.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Ad Hoc Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing consider at its next meeting the report of the international indigenous and local community consultation on access and benefit-sharing and the development of an international regime (UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/5/INF/9).
The Permanent Forum encourages UNFPA to organize, in full cooperation with indigenous peoples, a global symposium on indigenous young people and women during the summit to be held Nairobi in November 2019 to advance the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development so that their key concerns are incorporated into the review and appraisal of the Programme of Action
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council include, where appropriate, the question of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements pertaining to indigenous peoples when undertaking its universal periodic review of States members.
The Permanent Forum recalls its invitation to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to initiate a general comment on the collective rights of indigenous peoples to lands, territories and natural resources. The Forum welcomes the decision of the Committee to draft a general comment on land and economic, social and cultural rights. However, the Forum expresses its concern about the limited participation of indigenous peoples in the drafting of the general comment and invites the Committee to consider facilitating the participation of indigenous peoples. The Forum also invites the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples to provide support in this regard.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States take measures to advance indigenous women’s right to intercultural health through its inclusion in legal frameworks and public policies, as well as programmes to guarantee culturally, geographically and financially appropriate health and social services.
The Permanent Forum continues to be deeply disturbed by the threats that the extractive industries, infrastructure megaprojects, such as roads and dams, legal and illegal logging, and the expansion of large-scale agriculture pose to the indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact. While recognizing the guidelines for the protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the Americas prepared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the corresponding guidelines elaborated by OHCHR, the Permanent Forum recommends that OHCHR, in cooperation with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and with the participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations, evaluate the progress made, identify implementation gaps and make recommendations to advance the protection of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact and to guarantee their rights.
The Permanent Forum recommends that national human rights institutions and other relevant national and regional bodies, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, promote the rights of indigenous peoples and monitor the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and ensure that the international standards on indigenous peoples’ rights are translated into national laws.