The Permanent Forum notes with appreciation the establishment of a Voluntary Fund by WIPO to enable the participation of indigenous representatives in the work of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, and encourages donors to contribute to the Trust Fund.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the difficulties mentioned in the IFAD report and during the in-depth dialogue regarding engagement with partners whose approach may not be favourable to indigenous issues. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been acknowledged by IFAD as an important instrument to promote a strong focus on indigenous peoples with its partners. The Permanent Forum recommends that IFAD use the Declaration actively and engage in a constructive dialogue regarding indigenous peoples’ issues, even if its partners demonstrate a lack of interest or a less-than-positive attitude.
The Permanent Forum calls on UNEP to conduct a fast track assessment of short-term drivers of climate change, specifically black carbon, with a view to initiating negotiation of an international agreement to reduce emissions of black carbon.
The Forum expresses its appreciation to all those who contributed to the Trust Fund for the support of the Forum and calls upon Governments, intergovernmental organizations, foundations and non-governmental organizations to give generously to the Fund
The Permanent Forum welcomes the initiative taken by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the secretariat of the Permanent Forum to convene a first expert meeting on the nexus between indigenous peoples and migration and endorses the recommendations of that meeting and requests further inter-agency cooperation and collaboration regarding data collection and case studies on indigenous peoples and migration, in particular the creation of a task force to specifically address migration issues of indigenous peoples within the existing Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues for the Permanent Forum. Such a task force could assist with studies by indigenous leaders and experts and promote capacity-building projects dealing with the migration of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh and sixty-eighth sessions convene thematic interactive hearings with the participation of Member States, representatives of indigenous peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, and the Permanent Forum, in order to facilitate the development of a concise and joint action-oriented outcome document.
The Forum encourages the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to recognize the importance of and emphasize support for indigenous agricultural systems, including forestry, shifting cultivation, fisheries, livestock, pastoralism and hunting-gathering systems, and their associated biodiversity, foods, knowledge systems and cultures. It encourages FAO to promote the responsible use of culturally appropriate agricultural inputs and technology so as to protect the traditional livelihoods of indigenous peoples
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations entities establish programmes and working groups to facilitate the recruitment of indigenous professionals. United Nations entities are invited to report on the advancement of such recruitment endeavours at future sessions of the Permanent Forum.
The Forum recommends that the World Conservation Union Congress, to be held in November 2004 in Bangkok, endorse the recommendations on indigenous peoples and protected areas, as well as other relevant recommendations (such as on sacred sites) adopted by the Fifth World Parks Congress. It should also emphasize the need for the recognition of community conserved areas and indigenous peoples’ protected areas, the need for the full respect for indigenous peoples’ rights and the need for indigenous peoples’ free prior informed consent to be obtained before the declaration or in the management of any protected area which may affect them.
The Permanent Forum calls upon Member States, guided by the spirit of solidarity with indigenous peoples and consistent with their capabilities, to provide support for the effective implementation of the outcomes of the World Conference in mutually agreed areas of cooperation within the framework of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous peoples have a profound relationship with their environment. This includes their distinct rights to water. The Permanent Forum urges States to guarantee those rights, including the right to access to safe, clean, accessible and affordable water for personal, domestic and community use. Water should be treated as a social and cultural good, and not primarily as an economic good. The manner in which the right to water is realized must be sustainable for present and future generations. Moreover, indigenous peoples’ access to water resources on their ancestral lands must be protected from encroachment and pollution. Indigenous peoples must have the resources to design, deliver and control their access to water.
The Permanent Forum, bearing in mind the importance of the right of indigenous peoples to food sovereignty and security, invites Member States to consider the possibility of announcing an international year of camelids with the aim of drawing attention to the management of lands, territories and resources and for the breeding of camelids.