The Permanent Forum urges States that have not yet done so to ratify the Convention of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
Effective access to justice for indigenous peoples implies access to both the State legal system and their own systems of justice. Without accessible State courts or other legal mechanisms through which they can protect their rights, indigenous peoples become vulnerable to actions that threaten their lands, natural resources, cultures, sacred sites and livelihoods. Concurrently, the recognition of indigenous peoples’ own justice systems is pivotal in ensuring their rights to maintain their autonomy, culture and traditions.
The Permanent Forum urges the international community to pay particular attention to the situation of the Batwa peoples, in particular Batwa women, and to support the inclusion of the San people and other indigenous groups in the national census. The Permanent Forum urges African States and their international development partners to review the poverty reduction strategy papers and other frameworks for integrating the specificities of such indigenous peoples as the Batwa, Pygmies, Touaregue, Amazigh, Khoisan and other hunter-gatherers or nomadic peoples in their countries, both in Central and in Southern Africa.
The Forum recommends that African States, United Nations agencies and academic institutions undertake studies on the impact of the doctrine of discovery on indigenous peoples of Africa, with a view to creating understanding and awareness.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to adopt the terminology “indigenous peoples and local communities” as an accurate reflection of the distinct identities developed by those entities since the adoption of the Convention almost 20 years ago.
The Permanent Forum recalls the recommendations contained in paragraphs 48 and 56 of the report of the international expert group meeting on indigenous youth (E/C.19/2013/3), emphasizing that linguistic education and linguistic sovereignty are of fundamental importance to indigenous peoples. The Forum recommends that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UNICEF and other competent bodies of the United Nations convene, together with the Forum, a meeting of experts on intercultural matters and bilingual education.
The Forum recommends that States rescue, foster and give publicity to the history and culture of indigenous peoples in the education systems of the world to strengthen their identity.
The Forum makes the recommendations set out below to United Nations Member States, the United Nations system and indigenous peoples organizations.