The Permanent Forum welcomes the work carried out by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in preparation for the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages and welcomes and supports the action plan for the International Year that was developed in cooperation with Member States, the Forum, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as indigenous peoples and a range of different stakeholders. The Forum calls upon Member States to implement the action plan in partnership with indigenous peoples, respecting the principle of “nothing about us without us”, including the establishment of national steering committees and national action plans for the International Year. States should allocate adequate funding for the successful implementation of the International Year.
The Permanent Forum appeals to governments in the Arctic, Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia to give financial and political support to their indigenous peoples to play an active role in the implementation of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, including for indigenous peoples and experts to meet at conferences and other relevant regional meetings and events.
Recalling paragraph 40 of its report on its sixteenth session (E/2017/43-E/C.19/2017/11), the Permanent Forum calls on Governments in the Arctic, Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia, along with academics, to take appropriate measures to introduce the endangered languages of their regions into educational practices and include the learning of those languages in curricula at all levels of educational system, when requested by indigenous people.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations entities, including the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues, take effective measures to support the promotion of indigenous languages and the successful implementation of the goals and objectives of the International Year, including in activities related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the systemwide action plan on the rights of indigenous peoples, the celebration of international days and other processes.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States to establish permanent financing structures for ensuring the protection of the language initiatives of indigenous peoples, such as the Giellagáldu project in Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The Permanent Forum urges the Secretary-General to appoint a special envoy on indigenous languages, in consultation with indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that UNESCO, in active collaboration with other relevant United Nations entities, organize as a major event of the International Year a world conference or high-level event on indigenous languages, which would be preceded by regional conferences, and encourages Member States to support its organization. The Forum emphasizes that all events organized to mark the International Year must include the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum invites the General Assembly to request that UNESCO report on activities carried out during the International Year, and subsequent impacts and follow-up activities after 2019, at its seventy-fifth session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that indigenous peoples, as the rightful owners and custodians of their own languages , initiate and develop their own action plans and appropriate measures for the International Year and awareness -raising campaigns to draw attention to the situation of indigenous languages.
The Forum recommends that all relevant United Nations entities and Governments:
(a) Advise Governments to revise their national legal and administrative frameworks to ensure indigenous women’s equal rights and access to social and economic services and resources, including land ownership;
(b) Identify and give recognition to the capacities of indigenous women and their specialized knowledge in the areas of health, natural environment, traditional technologies, crafts and arts, and design appropriate employment and income-generating strategies;
(c) Provide indigenous women with the appropriate education and training resources so that they can effectively access and participate in mainstream national, regional and international economic institutions.
The Forum urges international donor agencies, regional organizations and States to incorporate indigenous people’s issues in the formulation of sector policies for development cooperation and to address indigenous peoples’ issues in their joint development programmes and projects to ensure that indigenous peoples and their issues are effectively mainstreamed into their work.
The Forum recommends that the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in collaboration with multilateral and regional agencies and indigenous organizations, lead the mainstreaming of indigenous issues and concerns in poverty reduction strategies at the country level. In view of the decreasing support to pastoral and semi-nomadic groups in Africa, the Forum recommends that IFAD initiate programmes in support of these groups and submit its planned work programme to the Forum at its fourth session.