Given the rapid increase in diabetes among indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum calls upon WHO to undertake a pilot study to assess its prevalence among selected indigenous peoples worldwide in the seven indigenous geo-cultural regions.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Plurinational State of Bolivia continue the implementation of specific policies in the areas of housing, health and education in order to benefit the freed communities, paying particular attention to those who have been subjected to servitude, and especially children and adolescents.
The Forum recommends that United Nations agencies, funds and programmes strengthen their work on migration and its effects on indigenous peoples, and develop policies and outreach programmes for indigenous migrant and urban peoples.
The Permanent Forum notes with concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased sexual and reproductive health challenges worldwide and stresses that there is a need for Governments to implement the commitments they made during the summit held in Nairobi in 2019 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of on the International Conference on Population and Development.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States formally recognize shifting cultivation as a traditional occupation for indigenous peoples that is closely related to their social and cultural identity and integrity and take effective measures to stop all discriminatory acts targeted at indigenous peoples’ practice of shifting cultivation in line with the provisions of ILO Conventions Nos. 169 and 111, ILO Recommendation No. 104 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including through the delineation and the titling of the territories and lands concerned.
The Forum reiterates the recommendations made in its report on its first session and:
(a) Urges the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and all United Nations bodies and agencies involved in programmes relating to health to incorporate indigenous healers and cultural perspectives on health and illness into their policies, guidelines and programmes, and to undertake regional consultations with indigenous peoples on these issues, in order to mainstream indigenous health issues into the United Nations system;
(b) Urges the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to undertake a study on the relationship between food security, subsistence agricultural practices and indigenous health and illness.
Calling attention to the high rates of suicide among indigenous youth in some countries, the Permanent Forum reiterates its call for States and relevant national aboriginal health bodies to convene a meeting to assess the root causes of indigenous youth suicide and to formulate preventive strategies. The Forum reiterates its call on UNICEF and WHO to convene a meeting on youth suicide.
The Permanent Forum notes that the Constitutional Court of Guatemala issued ruling No. 2112-2016 of 24 October 2017 on indigenous peoples’ intellectual collective property. The Permanent Forum urges Guatemala to comply with the ruling and to adopt laws and policies, respecting the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) should embrace the cultural dimensions of sustainable development. The Permanent Forum recommends that the Conference approve the cultural indicators as a fourth “pillar” for the elaboration of development policies for all peoples.
In order to improve the implementation of its recommendations, the Permanent Forum calls upon United Nations agencies to ensure that there are systems in place to share information with and distribute information to indigenous peoples at the local level so that they have the opportunity to engage with the work of the United Nations at the country level and express their views and concerns and implement their policies. The Forum also encourages indigenous peoples’ organizations to engage actively with the United Nations system at the country level and urges United Nations resident coordinators’ offices to engage with indigenous peoples’ organizations and representatives and ensure their active participation and consultation in policy dialogues at the national level.
The Permanent Forum is concerned at the lack of implementation of its previous recommendations that States implement the agreements reached in peace accords, and encourages States to engage in constructive dialogue with indigenous peoples, including the Maya, Garifuna, Xinka, Jumma, Kanak, Naga, Chin, Amazigh, Tuareg and Maohis peoples, and provide information to the Forum at its sixteenth session on the status of the agreements. In accordance with articles 3, 4, 5, 18 and 27 of the United Nations Declaration, the Forum urges the States concerned to engage in implementation with the full participation of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum appreciates the steps taken by the African Development Bank to include safeguards for indigenous peoples in its integrated safeguards system. The Forum is concerned, however, that the Bank remains the only multilateral bank not to have a stand-alone safeguard policy for indigenous peoples. The Forum recommends that the Bank fast-track, in coordination with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other regional bodies, a regional policy framework for indigenous peoples in line with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and report on progress to the Forum at its thirteenth session, in 2014. The Forum further recommends that the Bank develop a mechanism specifically to support the entrepreneurship activities of indigenous peoples.