A request for the secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Forum to consult and collaborate with indigenous organizations to promote the role of indigenous peoples as stewards of biological and cultural diversity for the International Year of Biodiversity.
The Permanent Forum appoints Sven-Erik Soosaar, Irma Pineda Santiago and Bornface Museke Mate, members of the Forum, to conduct a study on indigenous languages in the formal education system and to present that study to the Forum at its twenty-first session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations agencies convene a high-level meeting with representatives of indigenous women to review the commitments and actions for securing the human rights of indigenous women highlighted in articles 21, 22 and 41 of the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum recommends that interested parties organize an international expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous peoples: sacred plants and sites, articles 11, 24 and 31 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, and requests that the conclusions of such a meeting be submitted to the Forum at its tenth session.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the announcement during this session of the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights by eight global conservation organizations — the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund, Fauna and Flora International, Wetlands International, BirdLife International, the Nature Conservancy, the Wildlife Conservation Society and Conservation International — which aims to promote the integration of human rights in conservation policy and practice, based on their common interest in promoting positive links between conservation and rights of people to secure their livelihoods, enjoy healthy and productive environments and live with dignity. The Forum recommends that these conservation organizations ensure the full participation of indigenous peoples in the implementation of the Initiative. The Forum further recommends that conservation organizations that have projects that have led to the eviction of indigenous peoples from their forests provide redress and restitution to such victims.
The Permanent Forum welcomes Human Rights Council resolution 48/13 on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and calls upon the General Assembly to reaffirm and reinforce the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and calls upon the organizations of the United Nations system to take action in this regard.
The Permanent Forum also urges States to fund and deliver training in suicide prevention and mental health awareness to all teaching and non-teaching staff in all schools attended by indigenous children. The development of localized training programmes adapted to each culture consistent with articles 11, 14, 15 and 31 should be encouraged.
With regard to the environmental issue of water, the Forum, recognizing the indigenous peoples’ Kyoto water declaration made at the World Water Forum, held in Kyoto, Japan, in March 2003, requests that the Commission on Sustainable Development and other relevant United Nations bodies (i.e., UNEP, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNDP) consider the declaration in their discussions on this theme in 2004.
The Permanent Forum recommends that appropriate United Nations organizations, including the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as States, take immediate action to review and monitor the situation of indigenous women and provide comprehensive reports on violence against indigenous women and girls, particularly sexual violence and violence in the context of armed conflict. Indigenous women must be full participants in this process.
The Permanent Forum calls on all States that have not yet done so to implement the 2005 Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and other international initiatives that address climate change and biocultural diversity in conjunction with indigenous peoples, including indigenous women, in a full and effective way. The Annex I countries should implement their commitments to the Kyoto Protocol by doing all they can to shift their economic systems towards low-carbon systems, instead of relying mainly on the purchase of emission credits to offset their emissions. The fast-industrializing developing countries should also undertake serious efforts to cut their emissions and develop low-carbon energy systems.
The Forum recommends that immediate steps be taken within the framework of the Commission on Sustainable Development to protect water from privatization and from bilateral and multilateral governmental agreements and other incursions that affect the integrity of waters and impoverish communities, particularly indigenous women. The Forum recommends that the Commission appoint a special rapporteur for the protection of water to gather testimony directly from indigenous communities of the world impacted by or targeted for water privatization, diversion, toxic contamination, pollution, commodification and other environmental injustices that damage natural and potable water supplies
The Forum, recognizing the need for complementarity and coordination of indigenous training and education within the United Nations system, recommends that training and education partners within the United Nations system, in particular the ILO, the Office and other relevant agencies, hold discussions in order to develop a coordinated approach and a common electronic gateway to all education and training opportunities for indigenous peoples within the international system. As the United Nations body for coordination regarding indigenous issues, the Forum will construct the web site of the Forum available for such a gateway.