The Permanent Forum calls on States to consult with indigenous peoples in a manner that fully respects their obligations under the Declaration and fully responds to the goals, needs and rights of indigenous peoples in the development and design of relevant legislation.
A majority of States have yet to grant official recognition to indigenous peoples, let alone their collective rights to lands, territories and resources. The Permanent Forum expresses its grave concern about the non-recognition of indigenous peoples, in particular in Africa and Asia, and recommends that States incorporate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into national legislation, policies and programmes.
Mindful of the systemic discrimination and racism experienced by indigenous peoples in the law enforcement, judicial and correctional institutions of States across the globe, the Permanent Forum urges States that have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination to comprehensively review the civil rights of indigenous peoples, in particular those of indigenous women and children who are victims of sexual violence, in order to ensure that they have fair, non-discriminatory access to justice.
The Permanent Forum recommends that adequate and sustained funding and other support be provided to the aforementioned projects of UNDP and ILO and that they be replicated in different regions of the world.
The Forum recommends that the Economic and Social Council encourage States, specialized bodies and the United Nations system to consider creating international indigenous universities.
The Permanent Forum encourages Member States, local authorities and UNESCO to assist indigenous peoples in establishing working groups on language planning, development and modernization, with financial support. Furthermore, the Permanent Forum recommends that UNESCO undertake a study on best practices for language curriculum development and publicize its findings by 2024.
With reference to article 42 of the United Nations Declaration, the Permanent Forum invites African States, in particular Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Nigeria and Rwanda, to present, at its sixteenth session, information on the situation of indigenous peoples affected by conflict in those countries.
The Forum takes note of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples following his latest visits to Chile, Colombia and Mexico. The Forum calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner to elaborate technical cooperation programmes to assist in the implementation of the recommendations.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States to contribute support to make possible the annual UNITAR training programme to enhance the conflict prevention and peacemaking capacities of indigenous peoples’ representatives so as to strengthen indigenous capacity to engage in negotiation, dialogue and peace processes to contribute to sustainable peace.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the fact that United Nations entities and bodies, including mandate holders and, notably, OHCHR and the United Nations Environment Programme, take their share of the responsibility to ensure a safe space for Indigenous Peoples participating in United Nations meetings. The Permanent Forum requests that United Nations bodies and entities create an urgent response mechanism to acts of intimidation and reprisals against Indigenous human rights defenders cooperating with the United Nations, in line with existing United Nations guidance on protection and promotion of civic space and the Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights. The Permanent Forum will consider how to strengthen its own response mechanisms and its cooperation with the Assistant SecretaryGeneral for Human Rights, in line with General Assembly resolution 77/203, on this pressing matter, including through the appointment of focal points.
The Permanent Forum recognizes the importance of the signing of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace in Colombia. The Permanent Forum urges Colombia to promote and guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples, in particular by achieving the goals and indicators set out in the “ethnic chapter” of the peace agreement. The Permanent Forum urges the Special Jurisdiction for Peace of Colombia to prioritize the conduct of a high-profile investigation to highlight the violations of the collective rights of indigenous peoples that occurred during the armed conflict and to identify the patterns and perpetrators of this violence.
Building upon the study prepared by members of the Permanent Forum on the situation of indigenous persons with disabilities, with a particular focus on challenges faced with respect to the full enjoyment of human rights and inclusion in development (see E/C.19/2013/6), and in the light of the call in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to “leave no one behind”, the Forum is concerned that the experiences and rights of indigenous persons with disabilities require further study and examination. In that regard, the Forum calls upon the secretariat of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as the focal point within the United Nations system on matters relating to disability, to conduct a qualitative study with regard to indigenous persons with disabilities, in all seven regions of the world.