The Permanent Forum is concerned by the high number of indigenous children being removed from their families and placed into public social care, in particular in developed countries. In this regard, the Forum noted with satisfaction the Expert Mechanism’s engagement on the rights of the indigenous children. The report of the Expert Mechanism on the indigenous child will be discussed at its forthcoming session, in July 2021.
States, United Nations agencies, funds and programs should mobilize support for indigenous peoples who are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters.
The Permanent Forum endorses the recommendations submitted on 8 May 2009 to the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants by the Indigenous Peoples Caucus to increase and ensure the formal participation of indigenous peoples in that process.
The Permanent Forum notes with appreciation the active engagement of UNFPA with indigenous peoples in the regions of Latin America and Asia, as well as its detailed reporting on its work in these areas. The Permanent Forum invites UNFPA to continue reporting on its work and recommends that future reports deal with agency activities in all sociocultural regions or, if no relevant activities are under way in a particular region, the challenges to addressing indigenous issues in such regions.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States ensure access to justice for indigenous peoples, including indigenous women, through formal justice institutions, national human rights institutions and other forms of redress or recourse, all while taking into account indigenous peoples’ customary laws, institutions and processes, consistent with articles 21, 22 and 34 of the Declaration.