The Permanent Forum recommends, in paragraph 64 of the report, that the relevant United Nations entities should “conduct a study, in partnership with indigenous peoples’ organizations, that documents the linkage between environmental violence, including the operations of extractive industries, chemical pollution and the destruction of the indigenous habitat, and the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous peoples, as well as issues pertaining to sexual exploitation, trafficking of indigenous girls and sexual violence, with concrete recommendations on protection measures”.
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.
States should recognize the rights of indigenous peoples to food and nutritional security and the sustainable production and consumption of healthy and nutritious foods by using appropriate sustainable technology. There is a particular need to ensure that indigenous peoples who depend on marine and terrestrial resources be supported in protecting and ensuring their rights to and sustainable use of those resources.
The Permanent Forum urges States to address the stark inequality between indigenous and non-indigenous people in all aspects of life, which has been heightened as a result of COVID-19, by implementing in full the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in all their legal norms and public policies related to indigenous peoples.
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 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.
The Forum recommends that the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme urge States to ratify the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and adopt the recommendations of the Conference of the Parties relating to its implementation.
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.
Positive developments have been achieved in setting international human rights standards for the rights of indigenous peoples to lands, territories and resources, including by regional human rights mechanisms in Africa and the Americas. The Permanent Forum welcomes those developments, including the recent decision of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the case of the Ogiek community in Kenya. The Forum encourages indigenous peoples and States to engage further with regional mechanisms and to implement their decisions effectively.
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 inclusion and full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples, as beneficiaries and partners in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, while avoiding negative impacts on their rights are essential. The Permanent Forum recommends that States and relevant United Nations entities cooperate with Indigenous Peoples to fully consider their situations during the midpoint review at the Sustainable Development Goals Summit in 2023, including in the preparations at the high-level political forum on sustainable development.
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.