In accordance with international law, the Permanent Forum recommends that all States members of the Organization of American States recognize and respect that the United Nations Declaration constitutes the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples of the world, and requests them to ensure that the draft American declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples is consistent with or exceeds the standards affirmed in the United Nations Declaration.
The Permanent Forum reiterates its concern about information brought to its attention on continuing violations of human rights of indigenous peoples in various parts of the world, and calls upon all States to fully implement their obligations under the international human rights and humanitarian instruments. The Forum reiterates its call on States to recognize the rights of indigenous peoples constitutionally and legally, to strengthen their institutions for the promotion and protection of the human rights of indigenous peoples and to enhance awareness-raising and capacity-building efforts for government officials.
Urgent transformational actions by States and other development actors for Indigenous Peoples must be based on a human rights framework enabling the identification of the root causes of inequality and providing mechanisms to tackle systemic discrimination and racism and must contribute to reforming discriminatory laws and policies and strengthening the accountability of States, including ensuring democratic space for all.
Indigenous professionals, technicians, and indigenous leaders should build their capacity in respect of data-collection processes and non-indigenous professionals and technicians should be informed of the culture and practices of indigenous peoples
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction take the lead, in collaboration with OHCHR, UNFPA and WHO, in conducting an initial study on the global scope of past forced sterilization programmes of indigenous peoples and determine whether such programmes continue to exist, and report to the Forum at its nineteenth session on the progress made.
With the COVID-19 pandemic preventing in-person meetings, the Permanent Forum held virtual regional dialogues with indigenous peoples from all seven sociocultural regions of the world in preparation for its twentieth session. The dialogues highlighted cross-cutting issues affecting indigenous peoples across the globe, including the adverse effects of the pandemic, discrimination, the need for disaggregated data, and indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources. A full summary of the regional dialogues is available at the Permanent Forum website.[1] The Forum is committed to continuing to organize virtual regional dialogues in the context of building back better and the recovery from the pandemic. The Permanent Forum invites the secretariat of the Forum to continue to support these dialogues.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the work of the Government of Namibia in the development and validation of the white paper on the rights of indigenous peoples, developed with the support of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The Forum encourages the Government to take measures to ensure that the white paper is approved and effectively implemented, in cooperation with indigenous peoples in Namibia. Furthermore, the Forum encourages other States, in particular African States, to consider similar measures, consistent with the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum urges States, with the effective participation of indigenous peoples, to address the concomitant loss of community citizenship and human rights when indigenous peoples are forced to migrate or are displaced by violent conflicts, with a particular emphasis on indigenous women.
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 Permanent Forum requests that UNICEF design, in partnership with other relevant United Nations agencies, a protocol for emergency situations resulting from natural disasters to ensure that, in cases of emergency, there are no violations of the human rights of indigenous peoples, especially indigenous youth, children and women, owing to forced relocation.
The Forum, further recognizing the long-term benefits for indigenous peoples of training and education opportunities within the United Nations system, such as the establishment of an indigenous fellowship network by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, requests the Office to invite Permanent Forum Members and the secretariat of the Forum to the meeting of the indigenous fellowship network, scheduled to be held August 2004 in Barcelona.
The special rapporteurs, as well as other mechanisms relevant to the Commission on Human Rights, are encouraged to study the effects of armed conflict on the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples, especially on women and children.