The Permanent Forum recommends the development and inclusion of clear indicators and monitoring tools relating to indigenous peoples in the sustainable development goals and post-2015 development process, to be developed jointly with indigenous peoples.
The Forum notes that there is a need for capacity-building in national and local government as well indigenous communities in the areas within the Forum’s mandate, and recommends that various parts of the United Nations system, including the International Labour Organization and the secretariat of the Forum, cooperate to provide technical assistance in that regard at the request of Governments and indigenous communities.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the recent entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Forum encourages Member States to accede to the Optional Protocol and requests the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to consider the preparation of a general comment on the economic, social and cultural rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum appoints Les Malezer, a member of the Forum, to undertake a study on indigenous peoples and sustainable development, to be submitted to the Forum at its seventeenth session.
The Permanent Forum urges the United Nations Population Fund, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and other regional mechanisms, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, to conduct studies on indigenous peoples, urbanization and migration, with an emphasis on indigenous women and youth.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the interest expressed at the interactive dialogue on the follow-up to the World Conference held by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs on 22 April 2015, in which States and indigenous peoples stressed the importance of repatriating ceremonial objects and human remains. The Forum therefore recommends that States and indigenous peoples establish a working group to prepare a manual of good practice with regard to the repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains, with the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and other United Nations entities, and submit a progress report to the Forum at its fifteenth session.
The Permanent Forum appoints Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz and Mr. Pavel Sulyandziga as special rapporteurs to elaborate papers on indigenous peoples and relevant thematic issues relating to sustainable development (for example, sustainable agriculture, land, rural development, drought and desertification), for consideration by the Commission on Sustainable Development and for the submission of its reports to the Secretary-General and to represent the Permanent Forum in the Commission’s interactive dialogues with United Nations agencies. The Commission is urged to invite a member of the Permanent Forum to attend its annual sessions.
The Permanent Forum regrets the lack of progress in enhancing participation by indigenous peoples at the World Intellectual Property Organization and reiterates previous requests that that Organization adopt a legally binding document to protect the traditional knowledge and intellectual property of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum urges the Governments of Canada and the United States to eliminate all assimilation policies that further exacerbate the economic and other disparities between indigenous peoples and the rest of the population.
The Forum recommends that United Nations agencies, funds and programmes strengthen their work on migration and its effects on indigenous peoples, and develop policies and outreach programmes for indigenous migrant and urban peoples.
The global engagement of indigenous peoples at the international level has led to some positive institutional developments, including the establishment of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples can play an important role in the fight against climate change. Member States and United Nations entities should ensure that any activities related to the use of the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples respect indigenous peoples’ own protocols and consent agreements for managing access to their traditional knowledge. Strengthening and ensuring the full participation of indigenous peoples at all levels is also critical for the design and implementation of climate policies, plans, programmes and projects at the local, national and global levels.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the World Bank to strengthen its accountability mechanisms so that they focus on situations in which its funded projects adversely affect indigenous peoples and also to proactively implement specific measures to meaningfully contribute to the progressive realization of the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination.