The Forum encourages Member States to facilitate the establishment of civil society organizations, including indigenous organizations, to assist in the preservation and protection of indigenous cultural heritage.
Considering that 2008 is the International Year of Languages, the Permanent Forum recommends holding an expert group meeting on indigenous languages that will call upon States, the United Nations system and indigenous peoples and their organizations to consider the following elements:(a)Working towards concrete actions and legislative development aimed at eliminating discrimination against the current use of indigenous languages;(b)Developing programmes aimed at promoting the empowerment of indigenous languages through all mediums, including radio and television;(c)Supporting and increasing the number of centres for the study of indigenous languages;(d)Financing and supporting schemes for special projects that are formulated by indigenous peoples and are focused on revitalization and rescue of threatened languages;(e) Designing, in consultation with indigenous peoples and the Permanent Forum, the organization of a world conference on linguistic diversity, indigenous languages, identity and education, as a contribution to the programme of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People.
Considering the rapid rate of disappearance of indigenous languages and the fact that their reclamation and revitalization will require a sustained effort by indigenous peoples, Member States and the United Nations system, the Forum recommends that the General Assembly proclaim an “International Decade on Indigenous Languages”, to begin in 2021 or as soon as possible.
The Permanent Forum calls upon UNESCO, the Secretariat of the Conference on Biological Diversity, UNDP, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the United Nations Development Group to support indigenous peoples in their process of cultural heritage restoration and strengthening. This process should be guided by indigenous peoples in order to avoid the misuse and distortion of indigenous peoples’ culture, practices and knowledge and to respect their perspectives and aspirations.
The traditional food systems of indigenous peoples depend on a healthy environment and access to traditional resources and play an important role in maintaining the communities’ cultures and identities and their health and well-being. The Permanent Forum encourages indigenous peoples, States, United Nations entities and civil society organizations to raise awareness and promote the food cultures of indigenous peoples through support for indigenous peoples’ food systems and unconditional access to traditional resources.
The Permanent Forum recalls that, in the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, Member States committed to “developing, in conjunction with the Indigenous Peoples concerned, fair transparent and effective mechanisms for … repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains at the national and international levels”. The Forum urges United Nations entities to accurately identify affected Indigenous Peoples and provide them with advance notice and applicable timelines for both identification and repatriation so that Indigenous Peoples can request the repatriation of their ancestral remains, cultural patrimony and sacred objects.
The Permanent Forum encourages all States to endorse the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, considering the need to protect and enhance indigenous peoples’ distinct identities and cultural institutions, philosophies and world views, customary laws, indigenous political governance and justice systems, indigenous knowledge systems and sustainable traditional livelihoods and other economic systems, as well as to rebuild in urban centres the cultures and communities of indigenous peoples displaced from their traditional territories. The Forum calls upon States to build on good practices to ensure, safeguard and protect indigenous knowledge and intangible heritage and to promote indigenous peoples’ cultural expressions.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States, the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations provide political, institutional and, in accordance with article 42 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, financial support to the efforts of indigenous peoples so that they may consolidate their own development models and concepts and practices of living well (for example sumak kawsay, suma qamaña, laman laka, gawis ay biag), which are underpinned by their indigenous cosmologies, philosophies, values, cultures and identities, as well as link efforts to implement the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the efforts by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to engage with the Maasai people from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The Forum calls upon the Government to immediately cease efforts to evict the Maasai people from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and to enable the country visit of the Special Rapporteur.
The Permanent Forum recalls the recommendation contained in paragraph 39 of its report on its sixteenth session, in which States were encouraged to continue to cooperate with indigenous peoples to develop fair, transparent and effective mechanisms for the repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains at the national and international levels.
Effective access to justice for indigenous peoples implies access to both the State legal system and their own systems of justice. Without accessible State courts or other legal mechanisms through which they can protect their rights, indigenous peoples become vulnerable to actions that threaten their lands, natural resources, cultures, sacred sites and livelihoods. Concurrently, the recognition of indigenous peoples’ own justice systems is pivotal in ensuring their rights to maintain their autonomy, culture and traditions.
All United Nations systems organizations should recognize that indigenous cultures are intrinsically connected to indigenous peoples’ traditional territories (lands, waters and natural resources).