The Permanent Forum reiterates its call to all Member States, intergovernmental organizations, the bodies and organizations of the United Nations system, in particular the Inter-Agency Support Group, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to cooperate fully with the preparatory processes and the World Conference.
The Permanent Forum regrets the lack of progress in enhancing participation by indigenous peoples at the World Intellectual Property Organization and reiterates previous requests that that Organization adopt a legally binding document to protect the traditional knowledge and intellectual property of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that an expert group meeting on urban indigenous peoples and migration be organized by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in cooperation with the secretariat of the Permanent Forum with the participation of the members of the Permanent Forum, experts from indigenous organizations, the United Nations system and other relevant intergovernmental organizations and interested Governments, for the purpose of formulating recommendations for consideration, as part of its preparatory work for the sixth session. The Permanent Forum requests donors to provide financial resources for this expert group meeting. The Permanent Forum invites the International Organization for Migration to assist in the preparations for this meeting.
The Permanent Forum expresses its thanks to the Governments of Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Canada, China, the Congo, Denmark, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, the Russian Federation, Spain and the United States, as well as the government of Greenland, for having hosted previous pre-sessional and intersessional meetings of the Forum. The Forum stresses the importance of organizing such pre-sessional and intersessional meetings and reiterates its recommendation that States that have not yet done so consider hosting such meetings in the future. It also requests that the secretariat of the Forum organize pre-sessional meetings for future sessions of the Forum.
The Permanent Forum calls upon United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, other multilateral financial institutions and bilateral donors to establish clear policy commitments to protect the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum commends the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people for his efforts on behalf of indigenous peoples around the world and recommends that he continue his work in conformity with the principles he has established.
The Forum, recognizing the contributions of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in reducing rural poverty and its experience of good practices, recommends that IFAD consider operational guidelines on indigenous peoples and a framework tool for advocacy for promoting indigenous rights and development and achieving internaitonal development goals which emerged from international conferences, summits and conventions which are relevant for indigenous peoples
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 encourages organizers of pre-sessional regional meetings of indigenous peoples to develop suggestions and recommendations for the Forum to consider and encourages its members to participate in such meetings
The Forum recommends that UNDP continue its work on supporting local-level initiatives, such as the equator initiative, the community water initiative, the community-based initiative and the assisting communities together project.
The Permanent Forum urges UNDP to further strengthen the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples by choosing indigenous peoples’ organizations as their implementing partners and responsible parties in their projects involving indigenous peoples, especially those with established track records in project implementation. As a corollary to the foregoing, government agencies created to promote and protect the rights and interests of indigenous peoples should be preferred as implementing partners in UNDP programming on indigenous peoples’ issues so that they can effectively perform their mandate
The Permanent Forum welcomes the work of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues regarding the implementation of the call to action on the theme “Building an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future with Indigenous peoples”, in an effort to revitalize the system-wide action plan on the rights of indigenous peoples. In particular, the Permanent Forum also notes the work being carried out with and by resident coordinators to raise awareness among United Nations country teams. It encourages the Inter-Agency Support Group to continue its work on strengthening the implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights frameworks at the national level and on guaranteeing the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples at the country level.