The Permanent Forum welcomes the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Saramaka People vs. Suriname (28 November 2007), which aptly applies the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Permanent Forum urges the Working Group of the Organization of American States, which is elaborating the draft American declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, to consider the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the minimum standard.
The Forum reaffirms the UNDP focus on implementing its policy of working with indigenous peoples at the country level, and urges UNDP to continue its work to develop a policy on land tenure rights with the participation of indigenous peoples.
Taking into account the challenges faced by States in the implementation of their international obligation to consult with and obtain the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum commits itself to developing an international guide to facilitate the implementation of these principles in accordance with the standards established in the United Nations Declaration. The Forum invites the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples to collaborate on this initiative.
The Permanent Forum appreciates the invitation to participate in the Second Continental Summit of Indigenous Communication, to be held in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2013 and recommends that Forum members Saul Vicente Vazquez and Alvaro Pop attend the Summit.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States implement emission reductions to limit the increase in average global temperature to no more than 1.5oC to avoid the increased impact of climate change.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States establish, where it does not already exist, a national dialogue with indigenous peoples on human rights, based on the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum urges the Asian Development Bank, in projects that it funds, to ensure that it avoids adverse impacts on indigenous peoples and their watersheds and other fragile ecosystems and to promote the rights of indigenous peoples to land and resources.
The Permanent Forum requests that UNICEF design, in partnership with other relevant United Nations agencies, a protocol for emergency situations resulting from natural disasters to ensure that, in cases of emergency, there are no violations of the human rights of indigenous peoples, especially indigenous youth, children and women, owing to forced relocation.
On the basis of information received at its second session, the Forum expresses its deep concern about the reported atrocities committed against the Pygmy people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Kuna people of Panama, and atrocities committed against indigenous peoples in other regions of the world. It urges the entire United Nations system as well as the appropriate bodies to take appropriate action.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the study of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the right to education and the Expert Mechanism’s Advice No. 1. The Permanent Forum encourages States, indigenous peoples and others to disseminate these texts and incorporate them in national policies and practices.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Governments of Canada and the United States address the border issues, such as those related to the Mohawk Nation and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, by taking effective measures to implement article 36 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states that indigenous peoples divided by international borders have the right to maintain and develop contacts, relations and cooperation with their own members as well as other peoples across borders.
The Permanent Forum recommends that social and environmental impact assessments, including human rights impact assessments and poverty impact assessments, of financial investments and trade agreements directly affecting indigenous peoples be undertaken, and that the resources for those assessments be provided by the sources of the investments and the parties to trade agreements.