The Permanent Forum recommends that relevant States, in cooperation with the indigenous peoples concerned, establish indigenous peoples’ centres in urban areas to address their medical needs and provide legal and other forms of assistance.
The Permanent Forum calls upon Member States to ensure that the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) is aligned with the rights affirmed in the Declaration, and invites UNEP to organize a dialogue to discuss the Rio+20 outcome, its implications for indigenous peoples and its implementation.
Recalling article 32 of the Declaration, which recognizes that indigenous peoples have the right to “determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources”, the Permanent Forum urges the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Nordic Investment Bank to develop and adopt policies on indigenous peoples on the basis of the Declaration, to ensure that the programmes and projects for which they provide support respect, promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum requests ILO, IFAD and the United Nations Development Programme to prepare a study, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, summarizing the experience of implementing programmes for indigenous peoples on socioeconomic development, focussing on best practices in entrepreneurship and creative industries, and to present it to the Permanent Forum at its twenty -third session, to be held in 2024.
The Permanent Forum supports collaborations between indigenous groups and conservation organizations that bring together traditional and scientific knowledge holders to add the wealth of current and historical knowledge of indigenous peoples to the analysis of impacts of climate change and to mitigation solutions and adaptation strategies — recognizing and respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the provisions of article 8 (j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Permanent Forum commends existing small-grant schemes and programmes, since they often enable indigenous peoples’ organizations to play an active role in implementing the recommendations of the Forum. The Forum encourages the United Nations system to develop small-grant schemes and to increase the level of funding aimed directly at indigenous peoples and also to continue establishing mechanisms to ensure that they effectively reach and benefit indigenous peoples at the local level and provide funds directly to indigenous organizations for socioculturally appropriate project implementation.
The Permanent Forum congratulates the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity for considering the important role of indigenous peoples in its activities related to the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010 and recommends that it fund and organize a workshop on indigenous peoples and biological diversity as part of its celebration of the Year.
A recommendation for expert group meeting on water to carry out a close review and assessment of water allocation, regulation and access policies that affect the rights and health of indigenous peoples and to explore and establish indicators of water well-being for indigenous nations and the world community.
The Permanent Forum urges the Government of Canada to work with the Friendship Centre Movement and other relevant organizations to determine how it can strengthen its roles and responsibilities with regard to urban indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum deems it urgently necessary for UNDP to develop a deeper understanding of indigenous peoples’ world views. This requires, inter alia, that UNDP enhance its own capacity in the area of the human rights of indigenous peoples by having, at least, one full-time adviser on indigenous peoples’ rights. This adviser should be an indigenous professional who has experience working in or with indigenous organizations. The Permanent Forum further recommends that UNDP establish internal mechanisms to monitor and ensure compliance with its own programmes and operations policies and procedures related to indigenous peoples’ rights. The UNDP Liaison Committee on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues, in collaboration with the Permanent Forum, should develop a system to receive concerns from indigenous peoples and ensure the application of the internal policies and procedures of UNDP.
The Permanent Forum recognizes the right to participate in decision-making and the importance of mechanisms and procedures for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in relation to article 18 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Forum reiterates that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Maritime Organization should facilitate indigenous peoples’ participation in their processes.
The Permanent Forum appreciates the willingness of Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth to make visible the situation of indigenous youth, in particular concerning suicide and self-harm, in his advocacy. The Forum calls upon Member States to implement the recommendations of the international expert group meeting on indigenous youth, held in 2013 (see E/C.19/2013/3), in collaboration with the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development and with the full participation of indigenous youth. The Forum invites the Network to report on progress in this regard at the sixteenth session of the Forum. The Forum invites the Network and the Envoy to increase the participation of indigenous youth in the sessions of the Forum and all relevant United Nations forums, and to report on progress in this regard at the sixteenth session of the Forum.