The Forum notes the preparation of the World Congress on Protected Areas, to be held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2003, which Forum members consider to be an important meeting calling for their attention and action. The Forum recommends that all laws, policies or work programmes on forests and protected areas guarantee, ensure and respect various aspects of indigenous peoples’ lives, such as their spiritual and cultural lives, lands and territorial rights, including sacred sites, needs and benefits, and recognize their rights of access to and control over the management of forests.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the concerns expressed by the African Indigenous Peoples Caucus on the announcement by the World Bank in February 2014 of its intention to map Africa’s mineral resources by using satellites and airborne mineral surveys. The Forum calls upon the World Bank, African Governments, investor Governments and the private sector to disclose information about the “billion-dollar map” project, prior to any intervention and in a transparent manner, and requests that commitments to international norms and standards in relation to the rights of indigenous peoples be recognized and respected. The Forum also recommends that the World Bank involve indigenous peoples’ representatives in the mapping process and that indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed consent be respected, consistent with articles 19 and 41 of the Declaration.
In order to facilitate its work, the Forum decides to appoint Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the Forum, and Wilton Littlechild, Member of the Forum, as Special Rapporteurs, to prepare, without financial implications, an analytical paper with a concise thematic compiliation of the recommendations of the first three sessions of the Forum, and their status of implementation at the national, regional and international levels, and to submit it to the Permanent Forum at its fifth session, in 2006
The Permanent Forum recommends that the recommendations and proposals that emerged from the consultations of indigenous peoples and the World Bank on the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and other carbon funds, such as the BioCarbon Fund, be implemented by the Bank and other relevant agencies. Indigenous peoples should be effectively involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Displacement and exclusion of indigenous peoples from their forests, which may be triggered by projects funded by the Partnership Facility, should be avoided at all costs. Indigenous peoples or their representatives should have a voice in and a vote on the decision-making body of the Partnership Facility and of other climate change funds that will have impacts on them. In the case of those who opt not to participate in reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation or in the projects supported by the Partnership Facility, their choice should be respected. The Forum calls on all parties to ensure that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is implemented when undertaking these processes.
The practice of preparing overview reports, the Message Stick (the quarterly newsletter) and the database on the implementation of recommendations should be maintained. The secretariat should review oral interventions delivered during sessions of the Permanent Forum and take note of references made to the implementation of recommendations, which should be added to information provided in written submissions.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations country teams in Asian countries with indigenous populations, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, formulate a matrix of indicators, benchmarks and milestones to assess the outcomes and results of their policies and programmes relevant to indigenous peoples. Furthermore, the Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations agencies and donor agencies expand their funding and technical assistance to support capacity-building of Asian indigenous peoples’ organizations.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the adoption of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources. It requests FAO to give priority to strategic priority No. 6 (support indigenous and local production systems and associated knowledge systems of importance to the maintenance and sustainable use of animal genetic resources), and to further develop relevant approaches to implement it, including rights-based approaches and payment for services that support the custodianship of local breeds by indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Arctic Council formally engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to jointly follow up the International Experts Meeting on Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development: scientific, social, cultural and educational challenges (3-6 March 2009 in Monaco).
The Permanent Forum welcomes the initiative of the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to host the International Conference on Biological and Cultural Diversity: Diversity for Development (8-10 June 2010, Montreal, Canada) to develop a joint programme of work on biological and cultural diversity, and requests that future work include broad partnerships with the Permanent Forum, other relevant agencies, indigenous peoples’ organizations and non-governmental organizations
The Permanent Forum clarifies its call on United Nations entities, in its report on the twenty-first session (E/2022/43-E/C.19/2022/11), to elevate the discussion on Indigenous Peoples to the highest possible governance level of their entities to ensure system-wide ownership and support for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. It encourages Member States to ensure that United Nations entity leaders appoint Indigenous Peoples focal points who report directly to their senior staff member on Indigenous Peoples. The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations entities employ Indigenous Peoples for these positions.
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 Permanent Forum welcomes the work undertaken by indigenous peoples in the regional and thematic caucus preparatory meetings and the Indigenous Global Coordinating Group drafting group and looks forward to the forthcoming recommendations of the Global Preparatory Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, to be held in Alta, Norway, from 10 to
12 June 2013, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the regional preparatory meetings and their respective contributions to the outcome document of the World Conference. All conclusions and recommendations that arise from those activities must be taken into consideration in the decision-making relating to the World Conference itself. The Forum wishes to draw attention to the collective objective of ensuring an informal hearing, interactive round tables, panel discussions and the adoption of an action-oriented outcome document of the Conference.