Considering the bloody wars and grave conflicts that have afflicted a range of States in Africa during the last decade, the Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations agencies (IOM, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNICEF, UNFPA, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), UNDP and WHO) and African States urgently convene a general meeting on health in order to evaluate the negative effects of these conflicts on the health of indigenous peoples and to find appropriate solutions to address the issue.
The Forum urges WHO, in implementing the outlined global strategy on health of marginalized ethnic populations, to gather data and extend programme services to indigenous peoples based on criteria relating to ethnicity, cultural or tribal affiliation and language.
The Permanent Forum recommends that forests that have been taken by States from indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed consent in the name of conservation policies be restored immediately.