Displaying 1 - 5 of 5
Paragraph Number: 47
Session: 4 (2005)
Full Text:

The Forum recognizes that:
(a) The right to education is a key instrument for achieving equitable development and respect for cultural diversity. Education is an investment in the future, a means to reduce poverty and counter discrimination; (b) Indigenous peoples have the right, including treaty rights (as relevant) to quality primary education that is sensitive to their holistic worldviews, languages, traditional knowledge and other aspects of their cultures, which contribute to human dignity, identity, and intercultural dialogue; c) Mother-tongue mediated bilingual education is indispensable for effective learning for indigenous children and for the reduction of dropout rates; (d) Any efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal 2 are likely to fail if impartial and effective implementation of culturally sensitive educational programs, curricula and actions addressing the needs of indigenous peoples are not undertaken; (e) indigenous children experience particular difficulties relating to access to education of quality and sociocultural relevance at all levels. Obstacles are numerous and complex and include, among others, distance to schools, differences in lifestyles, for example, nomadic and semi-nomadic communities, discrimination, violence, extreme poverty and exclusion; (f) Education can be one of the most important tools for combating prejudice and discrimination. National curricula frequently ignore the cultures, treaties, histories, and spiritual values of indigenous peoples and reinforce stereotypes; (g) In many cases, current criteria to measure the achievement of Goal 2 regarding indigenous education are absent or are based on insufficient indicators which do not reflect indigenous educational specificities and are culturally inappropriate and insensitive

Area of Work: MDGs, Education
Paragraph Number: 47
Session: 6 (2007)
Full Text:

The Permanent Forum expresses concern about the situation of indigenous men, who, in the development process, suffer losses in their traditional livelihoods in their family structures and their roles in the community, and face social challenges as a result, as shown by many social indices, and urges United Nations agencies to undertake a study on the changing role of indigenous men in the economic development process.

Area of Work: Economic and Social Development
Paragraph Number: 7
Session: 4 (2005)
Full Text:

The Forum invites all the African States, the African Union and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to its fifth session to participate in meetings on the Millennium Development Goals and their implementation in Africa during the Second Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples.

Area of Work: MDGs

Addressee: IFAD

Paragraph Number: 7
Session: 10 (2011)
Full Text:

The Permanent Forum congratulates the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on the establishment of an indigenous peoples’ forum on 18 February 2011. This is consistent with international standards and, in particular, with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is also an example of good practice to be followed by other United Nations entities. The Forum encourages IFAD to: (a) actively promote the participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations in country strategies and programme cycles; (b) improve the design, monitoring and evaluation of IFAD-funded projects by using specific indicators for the well-being of indigenous peoples and by promoting an independent assessment of such projects by indigenous peoples; and (c) improving its advocacy role in disseminating its best practices in terms of development approaches with indigenous peoples at the national, regional and international levels.

Area of Work: Economic and Social Development, Cooperation
Paragraph Number: 7
Session: 8 (2009)
Full Text:

The Permanent Forum welcomes such initiatives as the indigenous and local community, business and biodiversity consultation, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 12 and 13 May 2009, as a useful dialogue between the private sector and indigenous peoples, and encourages further discussions with a view to ensuring the effective implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples while stimulating community-level businesses based on the sustainable use of biodiversity through such creative partnerships.

Area of Work: Economic and Social Development