The Permanent Forum recommends that the Inter-American Development Bank reconsider its policy and strategies so as to ensure the inclusion of representatives of indigenous peoples in an advisory body and incorporate the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent, without any qualifications, into safeguard policies and project-related instruments.
The Forum, noting that work will commence shortly on a convention of cultural diversity, requests Member States to work with representatives of indigenous peoples to UNESCO to develop a document that adequately protects indigenous cultural heritage.
The Permanent Forum recommends that relevant countries among the 44 countries undergoing voluntary national reviews at the high-level political forum in 2017 include indigenous peoples in their reviews, reports and delegations. The Forum invites those Member States to report on good practices of including indigenous peoples’ indicators in the voluntary national reviews to the Forum at its seventeenth session.
The Permanent Forum urges the relevant Governments of States visited by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people to implement the recommendations contained in his reports regarding mega-projects implemented using the territories, lands and natural resources of indigenous peoples.
The Forum welcomes and encourages the active involvement of representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities in the work of the WIPO Committee and in parallel consultations and workshops organized by WIPO, and calls for such involvement to be enhanced through, inter alia, the greater use in the work of WIPO of position papers, case studies and information materials reflecting community experiences and perspectives and the funding of the participation of representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities in sessions of the WIPO Committee.
The Permanent Forum recommends that donors and United Nations agencies give more support to indigenous peoples in Africa, where appropriate, to promote, recognize, protect and enhance indigenous traditional knowledge.
The Permanent Forum reaffirms its support for the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, which supports indigenous participation to attend its sessions. The Permanent Forum welcomes the contributions made by donors. It notes that contributions to the fund have fallen drastically in recent years and therefore encourages all Governments and others to contribute generously to the Fund.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the policy guides that are being developed by UN-Habitat, including on housing for indigenous peoples in the urban setting, which will be presented at the upcoming session of the World Urban Forum, to be held from 3 to 7 November 2008, in Nanjing, China. States are encouraged to support the production of the guidelines.
The Permanent Forum expresses concern for the state of the world’s indigenous languages. It is estimated that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 oral languages in the world today, most of them spoken by very few individuals. The Forum recommends the adoption of a rights-based approach towards indigenous language issues that considers the full spectrum of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Declaration. The Forum also recommends that Member States, the United Nations system, indigenous peoples’ organizations and other stakeholders share initiatives and strategies undertaken for, with and by indigenous peoples in order to recover, use and revitalize indigenous languages, including through the use of information and communication technologies.
The Forum recommends that FAO develop a strategic plan for working with indigenous peoples by defining the FAO mission, vision and conceptual framework for indigenous peoples
The Forum recommends that the agencies and bodies of the United Nations, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund rethink the concept of development, with the full participation of indigenous peoples in development processes, taking into account the rights of indigenous peoples and the practices of their traditional knowledge.
The Forum recommends that the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in collaboration with multilateral and regional agencies and indigenous organizations, lead the mainstreaming of indigenous issues and concerns in poverty reduction strategies at the country level. In view of the decreasing support to pastoral and semi-nomadic groups in Africa, the Forum recommends that IFAD initiate programmes in support of these groups and submit its planned work programme to the Forum at its fourth session.