States should recognize indigenous peoples’ rights to forests and should review and amend laws that are not consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other international standards on indigenous peoples’ land and natural resource rights, including over forests. This includes indigenous peoples’ customary law on land and resource rights and the right to be fully involved in decision-making processes.
The Forum invites UNDP and the Statistical Branch of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs to present a report at the 2004 session of the Forum, setting forth the progress made to date on the Millennium Development Goals, with special focus on alleviating poverty and its affects on indigenous peoples and communities.
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.
The Permanent Forum urges the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to engage with the Permanent Forum and other partners in the global AIDS movement, to initiate universal access to treatment, to develop a set of resources highlighting effective approaches and best practices for HIV prevention and AIDS care in indigenous communities, particularly from the developed world, including the development of an appropriate paper to provide guidance to national HIV surveillance systems, and to advocate and promote meaningful participation of indigenous peoples in HIV policy and planning
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should serve as a key and binding framework in the formulation of plans for development and should be considered fundamental in all processes related to climate change at the local, national, regional and global levels. The safeguard policies of the multilateral banks and the existing and future policies on indigenous peoples of United Nations bodies and other multilateral bodies should be implemented in all climate change-related projects and programmes.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the sixth call for proposals of the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility of IFAD, which is focused on advancing indigenous peoples’ biodiversity conservation and sustainable management for adaptation and resilience to climate change. The Permanent Forum urges IFAD to facilitate direct access to climate financing to indigenous peoples’ communities and organizations through the Facility and the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme, and encourages Governments and donors to support those initiatives.