The Permanent Forum requests the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the World Intellectual Property Organization to assist it in finalizing the study on sui generis systems based on customary laws for the protection of traditional knowledge with a view to advancing its protection.
The Permanent Forum invites the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to share the findings of the next open multi-stakeholder dialogues on the operationalization of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform at the seventeenth session of the Forum. The Forum urges Member States to operationalize the platform in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Forum recommends that the United Nations Forum on Forests develop effective means to monitor and verify the participation of indigenous peoples in forest policy-making and sustainable forest management, and establish a mechanism, with the participation of indigenous peoples, to assess the performance of governmental and intergovernmental commitments and obligations to uphold and respect indigenous peoples’ rights.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the work carried out by ECLAC through the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE)-Population Division on the production and analysis of available census data, incorporating the perspective and participation of indigenous peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean, and recommends that ECLAC:
(a) Invite the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights to contribute to its work on indicators;
(b) Increase the number of technical studies that contribute to the development of culturally sensitive indicators in order to monitor Millennium Development Goals as part of a coordinated effort by other parts of the United Nations system;
(c) Build capacity and provide technical assistance to governmental officers and indigenous organizations in the production, analysis and use of sociodemographic information for public policies, in particular taking into account the 2010 census round;
(d) Mainstream indigenous peoples’ views in all relevant activities of the institution in the context of economic, social and cultural rights.
Include questions on indigenous identity with full respect for the principle of self-identification. It is important to develop multiple criteria by which to accurately capture identity and socio-economic conditions with the active and meaningful participation of local indigenous peoples
The Permanent Forum is concerned about reports of UNDP entering into a strategic partnership with the oil company GeoPark, a private entity that has been accused by indigenous communities of disregarding their rights, to carry out economic development activities in Colombia without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous communities that will be affected. This partnership contradicts standard 6 (indigenous peoples) of the UNDP social and environmental standards, and the Forum urges UNDP to suspend all related partnership activities until a proper free, prior and informed consent process can be carried out.
The Permanent Forum urges States to increase the provision of funding to indigenous peoples and communities for water and wastewater systems in order to improve the quality of drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, as well as address water pollution and degradation in indigenous communities.