The Permanent Forum reminds States that the implementation of the United Nations Declaration provides a common framework for reconciliation, justice, healing and peace. Each State has a prime responsibility and duty to protect, promote and implement all human rights, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and international human rights law. Furthermore, all forms of discrimination must be avoided.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) should embrace the cultural dimensions of sustainable development. The Permanent Forum recommends that the Conference approve the cultural indicators as a fourth “pillar” for the elaboration of development policies for all peoples.
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 recommends that adequate and sustained funding and other support be provided to the aforementioned projects of UNDP and ILO and that they be replicated in different regions of the world.
The Permanent Forum invites the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples to examine and report on the situation of the human rights of indigenous peoples in Non-Self-Governing Territories of the Pacific region, and urges relevant States to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur for that purpose.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations agencies and actors coordinate in the development and implementation of an international research project on the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous peoples, ensuring an active partnership with indigenous peoples and organizations in all stages of the project.
The Permanent Forum urges all African Governments to comply with and support United Nations resolutions and mechanisms that include references to indigenous peoples, specifically Agenda 21, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification Particularly in Africa, International Labour Convention No. 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples and other United Nations agreements.
The Forum takes note of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples following his latest visits to Chile, Colombia and Mexico. The Forum calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner to elaborate technical cooperation programmes to assist in the implementation of the recommendations.
The Forum decides to invite the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people and the Special Rapporteurs on the right to education and the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health to its seventh session.
The Forum recommends that all human rights treaty bodies and other human rights mechanisms of the United Nations and the treaty monitoring mechanisms of ILO pay special attention to the human rights of indigenous peoples, in particular indigenous women, in the discharge of their mandates. The Forum also encourages indigenous women’s organizations and other organizations working in this area to enhance their cooperation and contacts with these mechanisms.
The Forum recommends that Member States adopt legislation acknowledging that the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples is their inalienable cultural heritage and embodies their cultural identity and that they make available such legislation and information in local indigenous languages.
Building upon the study prepared by members of the Permanent Forum on the situation of indigenous persons with disabilities, with a particular focus on challenges faced with respect to the full enjoyment of human rights and inclusion in development (see E/C.19/2013/6), and in the light of the call in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to “leave no one behind”, the Forum is concerned that the experiences and rights of indigenous persons with disabilities require further study and examination. In that regard, the Forum calls upon the secretariat of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as the focal point within the United Nations system on matters relating to disability, to conduct a qualitative study with regard to indigenous persons with disabilities, in all seven regions of the world.