The Forum recommends that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, at its special discussion day on the indigenous child, to be held on 19 September 2003, in addition to considering reports from States parties, pay special attention to issues related to safeguarding the integrity of indigenous families.
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.
The Forum urges all relevant United Nations entities, especially UNDP, UNIFEM, UNICEF and UNFPA, to:
(a) Develop methodologies and strategies to research the underlying causes of the "feminization" and "indigenization" of poverty and to develop programmes, which effectively address these underlying causes of marginalization;
(b) Perform systematic needs assessments for indigenous women based on the information provided by indigenous women’s groups and NGOs;
(c) Involve local, indigenous women in a decision-making capacity in all aspects of the programme cycle.The Forum recommends that all relevant United Nations entities research the needs of indigenous women and the causes of "indigenization" of poverty.The Forum recommends that all relevant United Nations entities research the needs of indigenous women and the causes of "indigenization" of poverty.
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 notes the initiative of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) to develop a new health plan for indigenous youth in Latin America and invites PAHO/WHO to report on progress achieved in implementing the plan to the Forum at its seventeenth session.
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 takes note of the sixth call for proposals of the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility of IFAD, which is focused on advancing indigenous peoples’ biodiversity conservation and sustainable management for adaptation and resilience to climate change. The Permanent Forum urges IFAD to facilitate direct access to climate financing to indigenous peoples’ communities and organizations through the Facility and the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme, and encourages Governments and donors to support those initiatives.
Aware of the massive exodus of indigenous youth to the alien environments of cities around the world and the discrimination, socio-economic hardships, weakened family networks and drug abuse, inter alia, affecting those youngsters and "street children", the Forum requests the World Bank, the ILO and UNICEF to conduct an in-depth comparative study of legal frameworks and social programmes addressing indigenous urban youth in selected countries. The study should assess key problems and best practices and should provide recommendations for the formulation of policies and strategies for future action.