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.
The Permanent Forum urges States to recognize indigenous peoples’ customary laws on genetic resources and traditional knowledge and to consider the development of sui generis systems based on such customary laws, as appropriate, for the protection of traditional knowledge and access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.