The Permanent Forum welcomes with appreciation the decision of the General Assembly, in its resolution 66/141, to request that the Secretary-General submit to the Assembly at its sixty-seventh session a comprehensive report on the rights of the child, including a focus on indigenous children. The Forum wishes to take part in any initiative undertaken by the Secretary-General in preparing the comprehensive report on the rights of the child.
The Forum, recalling its recommendation at its second session (para. 18) regarding an art competition among indigenous children for a logo/visual identifier for the Forum, decides to renew for another year its call for the submission of artwork by indigenous children, and calls for as wide a diseemination of information on the competition as possible so that the artwork can be received in time for the Forum's selection at the fifth session
The Permanent Forum also requests that States and United Nations agencies engaging in those events [see rec.31] ensure strong linkages with the outcome document of the World Conference, with particular consideration of paragraph 33, and indigenous participation.
The Permanent Forum invites the General Assembly to consider the creation of a distinct United Nations voluntary fund for indigenous youth or the earmarking of existing and future funds to increase and enhance the direct participation of indigenous youth at the United Nations. Furthermore, the Forum encourages every State Member of the United Nations to make multi-year voluntary contributions to such existing and/or future funds.
As stated in its report on its first session, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues decided to make indigenous children and youth a focal point of its work in the years to come. The Forum reconfirms its commitment to do so, and acknowledges the efforts made by organizations representing indigenous peoples, United Nations agencies and States in the past year to tackle the urgent needs of the young generation, including the decision of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to declare indigenous children as the subject for its theme day, to be held in September 2003.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States and the United Nations system, with particular attention to the activities of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), introduce indigenous youth perspectives into existing youth policies and plans, including the five-year action agenda of the Secretary-General to address health issues. In addition, there should be a distinct focus on indigenous youth by improving participation in decision-making and by introducing and including mental health services for young people, with particular efforts to address suicide among indigenous youth.
Recalling articles 3–4, 8, 18, 25–26 and 32 of the Declaration, the Permanent Forum urges African States to promote, recognize and protect the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources through the development of mechanisms to ensure the legal recognition of land and resource rights, the resolution of land disputes, fair and equitable redress, and the creation of permanent dialogue frameworks to facilitate political participation and representation of indigenous peoples in decision-making.
The Permanent Forum acknowledges the entry into force on 14 April 2014 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure. In this regard, it recommends that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, other United Nations agencies and States support the dissemination of the guide to this Optional Protocol, including its translation into different languages and the building of capacity among indigenous organizations and institutions to make effective use of the Optional Protocol in promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous children and youth.
The Permanent Forum recommends that UNICEF allocate at least one fellowship to an indigenous young person from each region every year for a term of at least three months, to empower indigenous youth and promote knowledge and experience regarding the United Nations system and the work of the Fund, and including financial support.
The Forum urges UNICEF to develop its policy on and guidelines regarding indigenous peoples in time for the third session of the Forum.
The Permanent Forum urges States to cooperate with indigenous peoples to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against indigenous women, children, youth, older persons and persons with disabilities and to provide support for measures aimed at ensuring their full and effective participation in decision-making processes at all levels and at eliminating structural and legal barriers to their full, equal and effective participation in political, economic, social and cultural life.
The Permanent Forum calls on States to enter into discussions with indigenous peoples whose traditional lands are now incorporated in protected areas, with a view to reaching binding agreements that will not only acknowledge the legitimate interests of wildlife conservation but also recognize and guarantee the rights of those communities under articles 8 (2), 18, 19, 26 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.