The Permanent Forum expresses concern over the misappropriation and misuse of indigenous peoples’ cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, and urges States and companies, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, to take effective measures to recognize and protect their rights, in accordance with article 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In this regard, the Permanent Forum calls upon Member States to take measures to safeguard indigenous peoples’ rights to intellectual property by adopting laws and public policies, in which it is recognized that indigenous peoples have the right over their creations, knowledge, discoveries, works, traditional cultural expressions and other elements.
The Permanent Forum urges the United Nations Population Fund, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and other regional mechanisms, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, to conduct studies on indigenous peoples, urbanization and migration, with an emphasis on indigenous women and youth.
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.
Throughout history, indigenous peoples have moved from place to place to find water, pastureland for their animals, and game; to trade goods from different ecological zones; and even to seek job opportunities in urban areas. Mobility restrictions both within and across State borders have affected indigenous peoples adversely, with the impact on pastoralist groups particularly severe in the context of their ability to access water and food. The Permanent Forum recommends that States implement specific measures to address the mobility needs of indigenous peoples, including through cooperation with neighbouring States, and that such efforts be made with the full free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples affected.
The Forum reaffirms the UNDP focus on implementing its policy of working with indigenous peoples at the country level, and urges UNDP to continue its work to develop a policy on land tenure rights with the participation of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and other relevant United Nations agencies further develop and enhance natural disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies involving indigenous peoples in the development and implementation of those strategies.
The Permanent Forum urges the Asian Development Bank, in projects that it funds, to ensure that it avoids adverse impacts on indigenous peoples and their watersheds and other fragile ecosystems and to promote the rights of indigenous peoples to land and resources.
The Permanent Forum is concerned about legislative and regulatory processes that criminalize the establishment and management of community radio stations. The Forum encourages States to expressly recognize community media in their domestic law and to adopt effective actions to enforce the right of indigenous peoples and communities to have their own media.
The Permanent Forum recommends that social and environmental impact assessments, including human rights impact assessments and poverty impact assessments, of financial investments and trade agreements directly affecting indigenous peoples be undertaken, and that the resources for those assessments be provided by the sources of the investments and the parties to trade agreements.
The Permanent Forum encourages United Nations entities, the World Bank, the Green Climate Fund, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant international and regional bodies to align their policies with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples should be employed within those entities as part of diversity and inclusion policies and to ensure Indigenous perspectives.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the document of the Commission of the European Communities (COM (2008)), Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: The European Union and the Arctic Region delivered in Brussels on 20 November 2008 and urges the European Union to begin implementing the recommendations relevant to indigenous peoples from this document.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the invitation from the Government of the Russian Federation, the Governor of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, the public chamber of the Russian Federation and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (RAIPON) to hold an international meeting in the city of Salekhard, from 1 to 4 July 2007, dedicated to the study of experiences of interaction between indigenous peoples and the private sector, and expresses its appreciation for this invitation. The Permanent Forum also calls upon other States to follow the example of the Russian Federation.