OHCHR, the secretariat of the Permanent Forum, ILO, the World Bank Group and other relevant United Nations entities, including United Nations country teams, should focus on increasing the understanding of indigenous peoples’ underlying material rights to land and the need to give material rights priority over process rights. These agencies should undertake analytical work on how the intensity and exclusivity criteria that are commonly encompassed in domestic property rights systems could be understood in the context of international human rights standards related to indigenous property rights.
The Permanent Forum also recommends that the Commission on the Status of Women include in its agenda a specific focus on Indigenous women and girls to identify best practices and guide Member States in implementing general recommendation No. 39.
The Permanent Forum requests WHO and PAHO to undertake a global study jointly with relevant indigenous peoples’ institutions and indigenous health experts on the situation of indigenous peoples living with diabetes and non-communicable diseases to establish the international evidence base needed. The results of the study can be presented at the fourteenth session of the Forum and in appropriate processes within WHO and PAHO. Furthermore, the Forum calls upon the World Diabetes Foundation and the International Diabetes Federation to provide financial and technical assistance to WHO, PAHO and identified indigenous institutions that will conduct the study.
The Forum recommends the creation of a global, legally binding regime for toxic industrial chemicals and hazardous pesticides, the vast majority of which are currently unregulated under existing conventions, to protect the rights of everyone, including indigenous peoples, from the grave threats to human rights presented by the ongoing chemical intensification of the global economy. Such a regime should have strong accountability and compliance mechanisms and be in conformity with international human rights standards, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Forum recommends that the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste, with the participation of the Committee on the Rights on the Child, UNEP and WHO, conduct a workshop on the impacts of persistent organic pollutants and pesticides on indigenous peoples, including examining the promotion and use of pesticides by multinational corporations.
The Permanent Forum is requested to support the planning and development of a world indigenous forum on the right to water, including the cultural and spiritual dimensions of water and peace. Planning for the forum shall be carried out through appropriate United Nations agencies and bodies and indigenous peoples’ organizations from all regions that have been working on water issues, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Water Education, the World Water Assessment Programme and UNICEF.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund and other relevant United Nations entities collaborate with indigenous organizations in all regions to develop comprehensive guidelines, including best practices for culturally safe sex education by and for indigenous peoples. That type of comprehensive education may serve as an effective violence-prevention means.
In the context of the United Nations system-wide coherence, in particular gender equality architecture reform, the Permanent Forum recommends that States and the United Nations system ensure the inclusion of the priorities and demands of indigenous women.
The Forum calls on the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to continue its support to the national indigenous peoples biodiversity participatory mechanisms of the small island developing States through the Convention's island and biodiversity project and indigenous peoples program, in the promotion of sustainable biodiversity
Throughout history, indigenous peoples have moved from place to place to find water, pastureland for their animals, and game; to trade goods from different ecological zones; and even to seek job opportunities in urban areas. Mobility restrictions both within and across State borders have affected indigenous peoples adversely, with the impact on pastoralist groups particularly severe in the context of their ability to access water and food. The Permanent Forum recommends that States implement specific measures to address the mobility needs of indigenous peoples, including through cooperation with neighbouring States, and that such efforts be made with the full free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples affected.
The Permanent Forum notes the initiative of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) to develop a new health plan for indigenous youth in Latin America and invites PAHO/WHO to report on progress achieved in implementing the plan to the Forum at its seventeenth session.
In the light of the study by Ms. Toki on the relationship between indigenous peoples and the Pacific Ocean and the dire effects of climate change, such as forced relocation and the loss of culture and livelihood, on vulnerable small island Pacific States, the Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations entities, including UN-Oceans, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and UNESCO, in addition to the International Seabed Authority, comply with and implement the relevant articles of the United Nations Declaration (arts. 18, 27 and 32), so as to ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples. This should include meaningful participation, such as dedicated indigenous representation within each of these United Nations entities, and regard for indigenous peoples’ world views.