The Permanent Forum supports an initiative to declare an International Year of Quinoa, recognizing the importance of quinoa to indigenous people and that it is a natural food with a high nutritional content.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the measures undertaken by several countries that aim, inter alia, to explore and develop alternative sources of income, significantly reduce the exploitation of natural resources, enhance conservation of biological diversity and establish measures in favour of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, such as the national initiative undertaken by Ecuador entitled “Yasuni-ITT initiative”. The Permanent Forum recommends that such measures respect the right to free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned.
The Permanent Forum recommends that OHCHR pursue its efforts to encourage increased use of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by national human rights institutions.
States, United Nations agencies, funds and programs should mobilize support for indigenous peoples who are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Canada operationalize the Declaration by passing Bill C-262 (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act) as a significant step towards reconciliation.
The Permanent Forum thanks the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for its efforts as the lead United Nations agency for the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages. The Forum recommends that UNESCO prepare a strategic outcome document of the 2019 International Year. The Forum invites Member States to consider discussing the outcome document at the General Assembly.
The Permanent Forum notes the intention of the International Indigenous Women’s Environmental Justice and Reproductive Health Initiative to organize an expert group meeting on the environment and indigenous women’s reproductive health and requests that the organizers invite members of the Permanent Forum to participate in the meeting. Further, the Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization participate in the expert group meeting.
The Forum recommends that Governments provide public water and sanitation systems to the villages and rural areas where indigenous people live, and control the pollution of rivers and streams affected by pollution from such toxic chemicals as pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and industrial waste. The Forum also recommends Governments to create programmes to clean up the rivers and streams that have already been polluted and to ban further pollution by agribusiness and industries.
The Permanent Forum recommends that non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples’ organizations and academics undertake independent studies and investigations into the violations of indigenous peoples’ land rights through illegal land expropriation and exploitation and into the issue of land, forestry, tourism and mining concessions, including:(a)Recommendations on how the rights of indigenous peoples can be legally protected;(b)The degree to which Governments ensure free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples in the approval of land concessions and mining exploration licences over their traditional lands and forests;(c)The role of other States in the promotion of agri-business and extractive industries without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples;(d)The role of multinational agri-business and extractive industries; specifically, whether corporate social responsibilities have been fulfilled and social and environmental impact assessments have been undertaken prior to the commencement of development projects.
The Permanent Forum demands that WIPO recognize and respect the applicability and relevance of the Declaration as a significant international human rights instrument that must inform the Intergovernmental Committee process and the overall work of WIPO. The minimum standards reflected in the Declaration must either be exceeded or directly incorporated into any and all WIPO instruments that directly or indirectly impact the human rights of indigenous peoples.
The Forum reiterates its recommendations made at its second session, in particular those contained in chapter I, section B, paragraphs 83 to 94 of the report.2
The Forum requests the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples to undertake a study on the United Nations decolonization process and on the Special Committee on Decolonization to assess its historical and current impact on the human rights of indigenous peoples of the non-self-governing territories. Furthermore, the Forum requests the Secretary-General to undertake a mid-decade review of the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism to determine whether substantial progress has been made in achieving the goals of the Second Decade and to identify proposals for addressing obstacles to achieving the goals of the Second Decade.