The Forum recommends that UNIFEM, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and UNDP support the first-world fair of indigenous women art makers, to be held in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, in April 2006, promoted by indigenous peoples from the north of Mexico.
States, United Nations agencies, funds and programs should mobilize support for indigenous peoples who are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters.
The Forum takes note with appreciation of the focus and work of UN-Habitat, particularly regarding the ongoing study jointly initiated with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on indigenous peoples and the right to adequate housing, and recommends that UN-Habitat submit a report on the conclusions and recommendations of this study to the Forum at its fourth session, and that it participate in the dialogue.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the participation at its sixth session of indigenous parliamentarians from, inter alia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Greenland, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and encourages indigenous parliamentarians to continue participating at future sessions in their own capacity, with designated seating arrangements.
The Permanent Forum once again reiterates its concern that reports developed and presented by many States on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and poverty reduction strategy papers still do not adequately include and address indigenous peoples, nor do they include their participation, and it therefore calls on States to rectify this situation and on United Nations agencies to support their efforts. Furthermore, the Forum encourages the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to integrate indigenous peoples’ issues into the global, regional, national and local human development reports, and in particular to include indigenous experts in preparing those reports and to guarantee that indigenous peoples’ issues are mainstreamed in them.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the World Bank to include the rights of indigenous peoples in its knowledge and learning activities for staff and management. Instruments for learning, such as the Nordic Trust Fund, should include training on how operational policies in place regarding the rights of indigenous peoples should be fully implemented.
The Permanent Forum remains concerned about continuing human rights violations, including arbitrary killings and extrajudicial executions, throughout northeastern India. It echoes the call of indigenous peoples (scheduled tribes) of the region and urges India to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958, investigate alleged human rights abuses in the region and hold those responsible to account.
The Permanent Forum notes that in international law, the right to adequate food and the fundamental right to be free from hunger apply to everyone without discrimination. The Permanent Forum is concerned about the implementation gap between what is legally recognized and the reality. The right to food is frequently denied or violated, often as a result of systematic discrimination or the widespread lack of applicability of indigenous peoples’ rights. The Permanent Forum recommends that States engage in an inclusive and participatory process to ensure food sovereignty and security, in accordance with the principles of free, prior and informed consent, and develop standards and methodologies and cultural indicators to assess and address food sovereignty.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the decision by FAO to observe an International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026 and encourages Member States to support the participation of indigenous peoples in events leading up to the year.
Relations with the Commission on Sustainable Development should be strengthened, inter alia, by ensuring that the Chairpersons of the Commission and the Permanent Forum are invited to present statements at each other’s annual meetings and that cooperation between the secretariats of the Commission and the Permanent Forum is enhanced.
The Permanent Forum recommends that appropriate United Nations organizations, including the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as States, take immediate action to review and monitor the situation of indigenous women and provide comprehensive reports on violence against indigenous women and girls, particularly sexual violence and violence in the context of armed conflict. Indigenous women must be full participants in this process.
The Permanent Forum recommends that all United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, as well as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, integrate relevant provisions of the Declaration into their policies, programmes, projects and strategies.