The Permanent Forum welcomes the work of the Indigenous Coordinating Body for Enhanced Participation in the United Nations in furthering the objectives of resolution 71/321 and agrees on the need to establish a new and distinct status for Indigenous Peoples’ participation at the General Assembly. It also welcomes the organization in November 2022 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of the expert workshop on enhanced participation in the Human Rights Council. The Permanent Forum looks forward to reading the report and the recommendations from the workshop when they are submitted to the Human Rights Council prior to its fifty-third session. The Permanent Forum calls upon the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly to ensure further progress on this vital matter. The Permanent Forum encourages Member States to financially support the work of the Indigenous Coordinating Body.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the United Nations entities that constitute UN-Water to ensure the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the realization of the outcomes of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference in order to ensure their engagement in water policy, governance and rights, including with respect to capacity-building, access to clean water, sanitation and water for nature. The Permanent Forum invites UNESCO to report on progress on implementation at the twenty-third session of the Permanent Forum and calls upon UN-Water, UNESCO and other concerned United Nations entities to build coherence among the four United Nations decades on water, oceans, ecosystem restoration and Indigenous Peoples’ languages.
Taking into account paragraphs 11, 14, 15, 17 and 26 of the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples and article 23 of the United Nations Declaration, the Permanent Forum reminds Member States of the need to implement their commitments through national action plans, strategies or other measures, developed jointly and effectively with indigenous representatives on the basis of the right of free, prior and informed consent, in particular to ensure the adequate training and availability of health professionals in indigenous communities as a matter of urgency.
The Permanent Forum calls upon States to recognize indigenous peoples, where they exist, consistent with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration, in their legislation in order to gather statistical data thereon, especially in the area of allocation of land and other natural resources for traditional use.
The Permanent Forum urges UNDP to strengthen its institutional capacity on indigenous peoples’ issues by establishing a task force to serve as a liaison mechanism between headquarters and focal points on indigenous issues at the country level. Furthermore, the Forum recommends that these focal points be specialists on indigenous peoples’ issues.
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 is fully aware of the close links between conflict and poverty. Conflicts cause poverty and reverse development. The Forum invites those United Nations agencies, funds and programmes working in areas of conflict to consider the special needs of indigenous peoples in their work.
The Forum recommends inviting the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and other regional commissions to present a report of their activities concerning the situation of indigenous peoples and poverty in Latin America.
The Permanent Forum urges relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, including FAO, IFAD, ILO, UNEP, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UN-Women and the World Bank, to recognize and support this form of cultivation.