The Forum recommends that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in conjunction with the Forum, convene an international workshop, with the participation of United Nations agencies and indigenous experts, on indigenous peoples and the human rights to health and culturally appropriate health care.
The Permanent Forum notes with concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased sexual and reproductive health challenges worldwide and stresses that there is a need for Governments to implement the commitments they made during the summit held in Nairobi in 2019 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of on the International Conference on Population and Development.
The Permanent Forum recommends, in paragraph 64 of the report, that the relevant United Nations entities should “conduct a study, in partnership with indigenous peoples’ organizations, that documents the linkage between environmental violence, including the operations of extractive industries, chemical pollution and the destruction of the indigenous habitat, and the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous peoples, as well as issues pertaining to sexual exploitation, trafficking of indigenous girls and sexual violence, with concrete recommendations on protection measures”.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of indigenous peoples, including nomadic peoples. Furthermore, the pandemic has exacerbated the plight of young women with regard to forced early marriage, female genital mutilation and lack of access to health care. The Permanent Forum calls on Member States to implement effective measures to address these challenges in their post-pandemic recovery efforts
Good practices are emerging that complement public health services with traditional health practices. These practices emphasize intercultural dialogue and discussion to ensure that health care is delivered in a culturally specific way, consistent with articles 23 and 24 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These practices should be supported and promoted.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other relevant organizations adopt targeted policies, programmes, projects and budgets designed to address the staggering prevalence of diabetes among indigenous peoples and put in place culturally appropriate health services, health education and awareness-raising initiatives to treat diabetes and prevent its rapid growth. Particular attention should be given to pregnant women, whose reproductive health is closely linked to the future risk of their children developing diabetes.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations agencies and actors coordinate in the development and implementation of an international research project on the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous peoples, ensuring an active partnership with indigenous peoples and organizations in all stages of the project.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Pan American Health Organization and all regional United Nations health entities ensure that their mandates address the rights of Indigenous Peoples, separate from minority, diversity and intercultural approaches, in compliance with the Declaration and the WHO resolution on Indigenous health.
The Forum urges States to undertake and promote the expansion of their national health systems in order to provide holistic health programmes for indigenous children that incorporate preventive medical practices and family and community participation. States are urged to address the issues of malnutrition of indigenous children victimized by poverty by adopting special measures to ensure and protect the cultivation of traditional food crops.
The Permanent Forum notes the increasing incidence of tuberculosis among indigenous peoples, rates which are up to 20 to 30 times higher than those of non indigenous communities. The Forum supports the proposal by the Assembly of First Nations in Canada and the Stop TB Partnership to hold an expert group meeting on the global situation of indigenous peoples with tuberculosis, which should include indigenous health experts, and encourages the organizers to invite members of the Forum.
Despite this critical role, community-regulated indigenous midwifery is often undermined and actively criminalized, to the detriment of the health of indigenous peoples. To close the gap between indigenous and non -indigenous health outcomes, the practice of indigenous midwifery must be supported by state health policy and integration. The right of indigenous peoples to self-determination extends to their reproductive health, and States should put an end to the criminalization of indigenous midwifery and make the necessary legislative and regu latory amendments to legitimize indigenous midwives who are recognized by their communities as health-care providers. States should also support the education of new traditional indigenous midwives via multiple routes of education, including apprenticeship s and the oral transmission of knowledge.
The Permanent Forum urges the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to engage with the Permanent Forum and other partners in the global AIDS movement, to initiate universal access to treatment, to develop a set of resources highlighting effective approaches and best practices for HIV prevention and AIDS care in indigenous communities, particularly from the developed world, including the development of an appropriate paper to provide guidance to national HIV surveillance systems, and to advocate and promote meaningful participation of indigenous peoples in HIV policy and planning