The Permanent Forum encourages the Government of Paraguay to continue to accept assistance from United Nations agencies and programmes and national cooperation agencies in order to develop policies aimed at the elimination of forced labour and other forms of servitude, especially in matters relating to the most urgent challenges: food, health, housing and education.
The Permanent Forum supports the work of the Special Representative to urge States to integrate human rights into those areas that most affect business practices, including corporate law, export credit and insurance, investments and trade agreements. The Forum suggests that the Special Representative urge States to ensure that such business practices comply with the relevant provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Forum urges the Special Representative to incorporate the specific views and distinct perspectives of indigenous peoples on social and economic development. Regarding the Americas, corporations must also comply with therulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which construe the States’ obligations under International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention (No. 169) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries with regard to the Declaration as extending even to States that have not ratified the Convention. The Forum recommends that this principle be applied in other jurisdictions.
The Forum notes that there is a need for capacity-building in national and local government as well indigenous communities in the areas within the Forum’s mandate, and recommends that various parts of the United Nations system, including the International Labour Organization and the secretariat of the Forum, cooperate to provide technical assistance in that regard at the request of Governments and indigenous communities.
The Permanent Forum calls upon States that have not already done so to engage in constructive partnerships with indigenous peoples to achieve the ends of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to adopt specific action plans, strategies or other measures that will deliver required financial and technical assistance to indigenous peoples in order for them to achieve and exercise self-determination.