The Permanent Forum is concerned that the regional presence, representation and services of United Nations agencies in the Asia-Pacific region are limited mostly to the Asian subregion, and recommends that all United Nations agencies review their operations to provide equal services to the Pacific subregion and identify their operations separately according to the two subregions.
The Permanent Forum intends to make the formulation of an indigenous peoples’ development index, based on the human rights affirmed in the United Nations Declaration and international human rights instruments, a recurring part of its agenda. The Forum recommends that the United Nations Development Programme, especially its Human Development Report Office, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights assist the Forum in developing such an index, building on existing initiatives by indigenous peoples and United Nations agencies, and report thereon to the Forum at its fifteenth session
The Forum recommends that UNESCO bring together indigenous experts and specialists to constitute an international network which integrates the domains of culture, education, science and communication in order to forge a partnership between UNESCO and indigenous peoples.
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 recommends that interested parties organize an international expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous peoples: sacred plants and sites, articles 11, 24 and 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, and requests that the conclusions of such a meeting be submitted to the Forum at its tenth session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Governments and States promote the creation of conditions for indigenous peoples that will enable them to maintain the forests in their traditional way and conserve their cultural identity, with priority accorded to indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, strengthening their capacities and highlighting the value of ancestral knowledge related to native forests. The Forum further recommends that the traditional knowledge and traditional forest management practices and governance systems of indigenous peoples for the protection and use of their forests be recognized in all forest policies and climate-related forest initiatives.
The Forum requests international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank and other regional organizations, to design special programmes for indigenous women to provide them with access to capital and microfinance programmes, taking into account the traditional mechanisms of each community.
During the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the members of the Permanent Forum were not able to register as United Nations experts. Forum members attend many United Nations meetings where their specific status is not recognized. The Forum therefore recommends that Member States include Forum members as United Nations experts, not as part of major groups, in United Nations accreditation processes.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the World Bank brings its policy on indigenous peoples (OP 4.10) into full compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Forum attaches particular importance to the need for the Bank to adopt the standard of free, prior and informed consent and, in general, to institutionalize and operationalize an approach based on human rights. The Forum reiterates its recommendation, made at its twelfth session that the emerging instruments of the Bank and other agencies must be harmonized with the Declaration, which is regarded as a reflection of the minimum human rights standards necessary for the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples, nations and communities. Such instruments should be consistent with or exceed those minimum standards. The Forum underlines the need for the Bank’s operational policies to use language that is consistent with the Declaration.
The Forum renews the recommendation made at its first session on the need to create a three-year working group on free, prior informed consent and participatory research guidelines, under the aegis of the Forum, with funding from the regular budget that includes a focus on how the guidelines relate to the protection of indigenous knowledge and natural resources.
All United Nations systems organizations should recognize that indigenous cultures are intrinsically connected to indigenous peoples’ traditional territories (lands, waters and natural resources).
The Forum welcomes the new initiative of the Bank entitled "Grants facility for indigenous peoples", and urges the Bank to organize consultations with indigenous peoples’ organizations to further the process.