The Permanent Forum heard from many Indigenous women’s organizations and networks, including the national movement of midwives, Nim Alaxik, of Guatemala, on its work for the rights of Indigenous women and girls and their contributions to ensuring access to comprehensive and culturally appropriate health care, including sexual and reproductive health. The Permanent Forum welcomes the 2019 ruling by the Constitutional Court of Guatemala on the promotion of actions that guarantee access to culturally appropriate sexual and reproductive health for women and the rights of midwives as guardians of ancestral knowledge and practices and recommends that the ruling be implemented by the State.
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.
The Permanent Forum further urges resident coordinators to prepare their United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks to support the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in strategic plans for their economic recovery. Resident coordinators are invited to provide an update to future sessions of the Permanent Forum through the Development Coordination Office on how the strategic recovery plans were developed and implemented.
The Permanent Forum congratulates IFAD for the work undertaken in India on disaggregating the human development index and associated development indicators for indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. It further recommends that the Fund, in collaboration with the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and other appropriate organizations, undertake similar work in any developing country where existing data allow for estimates of disaggregated development indicators.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs to publish a comprehensive report on the state of indigenous peoples, similar to the Human Development Report, to mark the Decade.
The Forum recommends that the Global Fund and UNAIDS participate in the Inter-Agency Support Group and that the Fund and UNAIDS present a report on the impact of their programmes and activities on indigenous peoples and communities to the Permanent Forum at its 2004 session, with specific focus on preventative programmes and activities impacting children and infants.
The Permanent Forum has, in recent years, expressed considerable concern regarding the situation of indigenous youth and the lack of disaggregated data thereon. In 2016, the Forum decided to include a recurring item on indigenous youth in the agenda of its annual sessions and has issued several youth-specific recommendations. The Forum welcomes the progress made and encourages further action by indigenous organizations and youth, as well as by members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development and the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues, in implementing those recommendations.
The Permanent Forum urges States to address the stark inequality between indigenous and non-indigenous people in all aspects of life, which has been heightened as a result of COVID-19, by implementing in full the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in all their legal norms and public policies related to indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other relevant organizations adopt targeted policies, programmes, projects and budgets designed to address the staggering prevalence of diabetes among indigenous peoples and put in place culturally appropriate health services, health education and awareness-raising initiatives to treat diabetes and prevent its rapid growth. Particular attention should be given to pregnant women, whose reproductive health is closely linked to the future risk of their children developing diabetes.
The Forum recommends that UNDP continue its work on supporting local-level initiatives, such as the equator initiative, the community water initiative, the community-based initiative and the assisting communities together project.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the legal reforms and policies carried out in some States to recognize the right of indigenous peoples to food and food sovereignty. It would also like to encourage the remaining States to take the steps towards its recognition. The Permanent Forum encourages States to take positive actions to facilitate the capacity of indigenous peoples to strengthen traditional food systems, such as formally recognizing and demarcating indigenous territories to enable them to carry out productive food activities, in accordance with article
8 (2) (b) of the Declaration, which prohibits States from any action that has the aim or effect of dispossessing indigenous peoples of their lands, territories or resources.
The Forum recommends that the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues organize a workshop on policies and best practices of engaging indigenous youth and children on prevention of suicide among them and report to the Forum at its next session (2006)