The Permanent Forum welcomes the United Nations Development Group guidelines on indigenous peoples’ issues, and encourages United Nations agencies to actively disseminate, promote and implement those guidelines, particularly among their country offices. In that regard, the Forum urges the Development Group to give priority to the promotion, use and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the most universal, comprehensive and fundamental instrument on indigenous peoples’ rights, and to fully reflect this in the next edition of the Group’s guidelines. The Forum also recommends that donor agencies consider providing financial assistance to implement the guidelines.
The Permanent Forum urges the Government of Kenya to recognize and formally protect the land and resource rights of the Ogiek and Sengwer peoples in line with the Constitution of Kenya, the Community Land Act of 2016 and other relevant laws, before moving ahead with planned conservation efforts in the Cherangany Hills.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the announcement by the World Bank concerning the establishment of an indigenous peoples advisory council. The Forum recognizes the need for dialogue and will take into consideration the proposal on the understanding that the objective of such an initiative will be to ensure the participation of indigenous peoples and that the final outcome will be full compliance of the Bank’s policies, guidelines and activities with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum notes that, over the course of the global COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities for consultations and participation in decision-making have increasingly moved online. Although in-person meetings and interaction should always be the preferred option, on-line consultations and decision-making present opportunities for enhanced participation. However, these online options expose existing inequalities and a digital divide that is especially detrimental to the participation of indigenous peoples in many parts of Africa, Latin America, the Pacific and in rural areas around the world. Recognizing that virtual dialogues, consultations and other events will continue beyond the pandemic, the Forum emphasizes that existing mechanisms to support the participation of indigenous peoples in processes that affect them must adapt to this new environment and support the online participation of indigenous peoples. This includes purchasing data packages and facilitating access to electricity and necessary hardware and in-country travel to gain access to stable Internet connections. The Forum notes that current administrative processes of the United Nations do not facilitate such participation and therefore requests that the Secretary-General instruct relevant United Nations entities to make the necessary arrangements as a matter of urgency.
The Forum requests international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank and other regional organizations, to design special programmes for indigenous women to provide them with access to capital and microfinance programmes, taking into account the traditional mechanisms of each community.
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 recognizes the harm that the recent decision of the European Parliament regarding the seal product import ban may cause Inuit in the Arctic, and calls upon the European Union to rescind this import ban and, failing that, to enter into direct and meaningful dialogue with the Inuit Circumpolar Council to discuss ways of moving forward. Furthermore, the European Union must make decisions that affect both European and non-European indigenous peoples taking into account their right to free, prior and informed consent.
The Forum recommends that FAO and the Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative work further on the development of cultural indicators for identifying priorities and criteria and methodologies for the right to food and food security, with the participation of indigenous peoples, taking into account the protection and restoration of indigenous peoples' traditional food systems and their agrobiodiversity and associated traditional knowledge and livelihoods. The threats to sustaining such systems, such as monoculture cash crop production, mineral extraction, environmental contamination and genetically modified seeds and technology, should be addressed.
The traditional food systems of indigenous peoples depend on a healthy environment and access to traditional resources and play an important role in maintaining the communities’ cultures and identities and their health and well-being. The Permanent Forum encourages indigenous peoples, States, United Nations entities and civil society organizations to raise awareness and promote the food cultures of indigenous peoples through support for indigenous peoples’ food systems and unconditional access to traditional resources.
The Forum recommends to the Economic and Social Council that the United Nations system guarantee the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in appropriate processes and environmental conventions, such as those on desertification, wetlands and climate change.
The Permanent Forum requests the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to undertake a specific assessment of the opportunities and threats for indigenous peoples arising from the various greenhouse gas emission strategies that are currently in place and will potentially come into operation to mitigate the impacts of climate change and requests that this assessment be undertaken with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples around the world.