Displaying 1 - 12 of 189

Addressee: Member States

Paragraph Number: 19
Session: 3 (2004)
Full Text:

Member States should consider the adoption and full implementation of comprehensive national indigenous education policies based on the following goals:

Participation:
a) Establishing effective arrangements for the participation of indigenous parents and community members in decisions regarding the planning, delivery and evaluation of education services for their children, young people and other community members;
b) Increasing the number of indigenous people employed as educational administrators, teachers, coaches, officials, curriculum advisers, teacher’s assistants, home-school liaison officers and other education workers, including community members engaged in teaching indigenous culture, history and contemporary society, and indigenous languages;
c) Developing arrangements for the provision of independent advice from indigenous communities regarding educational decisions at all levels;
d) Achieving the participation of indigenous children, young people and adults in education for a period similar to that of other students;
Access:
e) Ensuring that indigenous children, young people and adults have access to all levels of education (including adult education) on a basis comparable to that available to other citizens;
Attainment:
f) Enabling indigenous students to attain skills and graduation rates up to the same standard as other students throughout the compulsory and non-compulsory schooling years;
g) Developing teaching forms and curricula based on mother tongue (additive learning) in primary and secondary education (should be mandatory in order to achieve goal (f) above);
h) Developing curricula for both primary and secondary education which reflect the insights and usefulness of indigenous knowledge systems and are sensitive to indigenous values. Curricula should:
i) Incorporate indigenous histories, traditional knowledge and spiritual values;
ii) Integrate indigenous oral traditions, myths and writings, acknowledging these as unique parts of world heritage;
Indigenous languages, proficiency in the national language, literacy and numeracy :
i) Developing programmes based on the child’s mother tongue (first language) as a foundation for learning and aiming at the maintenance and continued use of indigenous languages;
j) Enabling the attainment of proficiency in the commonly used national language and at least one international language, and numeracy competencies by all indigenous students, including indigenous adults, giving particular attention to indigenous women based on the framework of the United Nations Decade of Literacy;
Capacity-building:
k) Providing community education services which will enable indigenous peoples to develop the skills to manage the development of their communities;
l) Providing education and training services to develop the skills of indigenous people to participate in educational decision-making;
Appreciation, understanding and respect for indigenous cultures:
m) Enabling all students, both indigenous and non-indigenous, at all levels of education, to have an appreciation and understanding of and respect for traditional and contemporary indigenous histories, cultures and identities;
Anti-racism strategies:
n) Promoting anti-racism education, including strategies to empower young people to deal with racism in the compulsory schooling curriculum;
Cultural, social and economic development in education:
o) Indigenous peoples should be resourced and supported to establish their own education systems, including schools, should they so choose. Also, traditional indigenous education and its structures should be respected and supported;
Education for indigenous peoples in custody or detention:
p) Given the overrepresentation of indigenous youth and adults in detention, the Forum urges States to consider culturally relevant and appropriate education for indigenous peoples in detention centres;
q) The Forum asks that education plans, programmes and policies be implemented especially for indigenous girls, boys and women.

Area of Work: Education

Addressee: UNICEF

Paragraph Number: 61
Session: 10 (2011)
Full Text:

The Permanent Forum acknowledges the equity policy of UNICEF and pays particular attention to vulnerable indigenous children and youth in terms of food security, shelter, health and education. UNICEF, in developing its indigenous peoples policy, should consider the standards set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in relation to indigenous children and youth.

Area of Work: Indigenous Children and Youth, Cooperation

Addressee: IFAD

Paragraph Number: 166
Session: 5 (2006)
Full Text:

The Permanent Forum supports the willingness of IFAD to consider continuing to operate the World Bank’s Grants Facility for Indigenous Peoples. It recommends that IFAD make every effort to substantially enhance this Facility through its own grant funding mechanism as well as through seeking the contributions of other international financial institutions as well as bilateral and multilateral donors.

Area of Work: Education

Addressee: Member States

Paragraph Number: 48
Session: 4 (2005)
Full Text:

States should:
(a) Endorse intercultural education as national policy priority to ensure equal access for indigenous children to quality and culturally appropriate primary education, as stipulated in the Convention on the Right of the Child; (b) Increase substantially State budgetary allocations in order to meet Millennium Development Goal 2 for indigenous children; c) Increase funding for Goal 2 for indigenous children through bilateral and multilateral cooperation; (d) Review current national curricula and textbooks to erase culturally discriminatory materials and enhance knowledge of indigenous cultures; (e) Establish effective arrangements for the participation of indigenous parents and community members in decisions regarding the planning, delivery and evaluation of education services for their children, including in the designing and implementation of their own education at all levels, including developing appropriate teaching materials and methods; (f) Ensure an increase in the number of indigenous persons in the educational sectors, including in policy, administration, teaching indigenous culture, history and contemporary society, indigenous languages and production of educational materials; (g) Ensure that indigenous children have access to free primary quality education; (h) Eliminate national policies and practices that create further difficulties for indigenous children to enjoy their right to education, such as the request for birth certificates for the enrolment of children and the refusal to accept indigenous names and traditional dress in schools; (i) Develop bilingual and culturally appropriate primary education for indigenous children to reduce dropout rates. The mother tongue must be the first learning language and the national language the second language; curricula should reflect indigenous peoples' holistic worldviews, knowledge systems, histories, spiritual values and physical activities, physical education and sports; (j) Recognize that isolation is a major obstacle that prevents indigenous peoples from fully enjoying their right to education. States should establish best practices, such as residential or boarding schools, where they have worked positively, and mobile and seasonal schools or the use of technologies, such as remote teaching and the Internet, to reach the most isolated and remote indigenous communities; (k) support enrolment of indigenous persons in teacher-training programs, colleges and relevant higher educational institutions; (l) Develop school curricula for indigenous peoples in cooperation with other Governments at the regional level in order to maximize the sustainable use of resources in this area; (m) Develop monitoring guidelines and indicators for achieving Goal 2 regarding indigenous children and set benchmarks in that regard; (n) In the context of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the achievement of primary universal education, the Forum recommends that States, the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations pay attention to intercultural bilingual education for indigenous peoples at the preschool, primary and tertiary levels

Area of Work: MDGs, Education
Paragraph Number: 65
Session: 6 (2007)
Full Text:

Calling attention to the high rates of suicide among indigenous youth in some countries, the Permanent Forum reiterates its call for States and relevant national aboriginal health bodies to convene a meeting to assess the root causes of indigenous youth suicide and to formulate preventive strategies. The Forum reiterates its call on UNICEF and WHO to convene a meeting on youth suicide.

Area of Work: Health, Indigenous Children and Youth
Paragraph Number: 11
Session: 2 (2003)
Full Text:

The Forum recommends that UNICEF, in cooperation with the ILO, UNESCO and UNHCR, report to the Forum at its fourth session on ways that the United Nations system can assist in capacity-building in that area.

Area of Work: Indigenous Children and Youth

Addressee: Academia

Paragraph Number: 109
Session: 2 (2003)
Full Text:

The Forum recommends the creation and/or consolidation of academic institutions to train indigenous leaders of the world and urges public and private universities to develop curricula on indigenous peoples. The Forum furthermore exhorts the presidents of universities to promote the review of their teaching and research programmes with the objective of valuing and recognizing indigenous and inter-cultural education, and strengthening technical cooperation and the exchange of experience for the training of indigenous

Area of Work: Education

Addressee: ECA, AU

Paragraph Number: 32
Session: 12 (2013)
Full Text:

The Permanent Forum recognizes the particular concerns of African indigenous youth, who are striving against political, social and economic challenges, poverty, marginalization and a lack of capacity development and employment. The Permanent Forum calls upon, among others, the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, including the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, to provide adequate capacity-building programmes and opportunities to enable African indigenous youth, women and persons with disabilities to engage meaningfully with States and other key development players, including by organizing and sponsoring attendance at training sessions, conferences and other forums on indigenous issues.

Area of Work: Indigenous Children and Youth, Indigenous Women and Girls

Addressee: Australia

Paragraph Number: 32
Session: 9 (2010)
Full Text:

On the basis of information received at the ninth session, the Permanent Forum expresses its deep concern about the changes in policy on bilingual education in the Northern Territory, Australia. The Forum urges the Government of Australia to work with its State and territory education systems to develop models of bilingual, intercultural and multilingual education that are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Area of Work: Education

Addressee: Member States

Paragraph Number: 95
Session: 18 (2019)
Full Text:

The Permanent Forum welcomes the organization of the informal interactive hearing by the President of the General Assembly to reflect on possible further measures necessary to enhance the participation of the representatives and institutions of indigenous peoples in all meetings of relevant United Nations bodies on issues affecting them. The Forum urges Member States to convene, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, regional meetings in each of the seven sociocultural regions to discuss modalities in this regard.

Area of Work: Enhanced Participation at the UN
Paragraph Number: 121
Session: 11 (2012)
Full Text:

The Permanent Forum takes note of the UNDP Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support initiative, with its focus on indigenous women and youth in Latin America, and appreciates the contributions provided by donors to ensure the success of the initiative. The Forum recommends that Member States, UN-Women and UNICEF provide financial support for this important initiative for indigenous women and youth.

Area of Work: Human rights, Indigenous Women and Girls, Indigenous Children and Youth

Addressee: SPFII

Paragraph Number: 18
Session: 2 (2003)
Full Text:

In order to promote further knowledge of the Forum and the role of the United Nations among indigenous children and youth, the Forum decides to organize an indigenous youth art competition for the design of a logo for the Forum and to present the results to the Forum at its fourth session, in 2005, with the highest participation of indigenous children, including illiterate children.

Area of Work: Indigenous Children and Youth