The Permanent Forum expresses its appreciation to the Member States that have already submitted information to it over the years, and encourages all States to submit substantive information on measures taken to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous peoples lack recognition, and face poor implementation of their rights and flagrant violations of their rights and their lands, while the need for their free, prior and informed consent and the right to autonomy of self-government is disregarded by local businesses and transnational corporations in mining, logging, and oil and gas extraction, among other sectors. The territories and resources of indigenous peoples are seized and livelihoods are destroyed to the detriment of their knowledge, cultures and languages. In that respect, it is important to remind Member States of their duty to protect.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States recognize the right of indigenous peoples to own, control, use and have access to their forests, and calls on States to reform their laws and policies that deny indigenous peoples that right. The Forum is gravely concerned about the continuing eviction of indigenous peoples from their forests and calls on States and the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations to protect and respect the rights of forest-dwelling and forest-dependent indigenous peoples and to provide redress to those whose rights have been violated.
In this regard, the Forum invites the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to pay special attention to the situation of indigenous peoples and address these issues in accordance with their mandates. The Forum recommends that IOM and UNHCR develop specific guidelines on indigenous migrants and to actively participate in the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States incorporate adequate information on the implementation of the Declaration in their core reports to the human rights treaty bodies.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) and the Escazú Agreement.
The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues welcomes the proposal made by the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the report on its third session, which encourages OHCHR to hold an international expert seminar on truth and reconciliation processes. This proposal of the Expert Mechanism recognizes the importance of national truth and reconciliation processes for improving relations between States and indigenous peoples and for facilitating strengthened recognition and implementation of the rights of indigenous peoples.
The Forum recommends to the United Nations system and States to implement the recommendations on indigenous women made in the report on its third session in the development of programs focused on the goals of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People guaranteeing the involvement of indigenous women
The Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) adopt an indigenous peoples’ policy and ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in the formulation of this policy and its programmes and projects.
The Permanent Forum urges the Governments of Canada and the United States to respect the right of indigenous nations to determine their own membership, in accordance with article 33 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Forum recommends that, under the aegis of the Forum, effective cooperation should be established and further developed between the Forum, the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the special rapporteurs who address issues relating to indigenous peoples, with a view towards evaluating their activities, ensuring complementary efforts and avoiding duplication, in the light of resolution 2003/55 of the Commission on Human Rights.
The Permanent Forum reiterates the recommendation contained in paragraph 40 of its report on its seventeenth session, in which it recommended that the Commission on the Status of Women organize a high-level interactive dialogue on the rights of indigenous women, to coincide with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, in 2020, to review progress made towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on links to the Declaration. The Forum invites States, in cooperation with indigenous peoples’ organizations and with the support of the United Nations system, to conduct preparatory processes, with the full and effective participation of indigenous women of all ages.