The Forum recommends that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change consider the possible establishment of an ad hoc open-ended intersessional working group on indigenous peoples and local communities and climate change, whose objectives would be to study and propose timely, effective and adequate solutions to respond to the urgent situations caused by climate change that indigenous peoples and local communities face. The Forum furthermore recommends that the Convention consider providing necessary funding support to Forum members and indigenous peoples to guarantee their participation and to strengthen their participation.
Member States must urgently address violence against indigenous peoples, including State violence, gender-based violence, forced assimilation and forced child removals, discrimination in the justice system and other forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on gender, religion, disability, age and LGBTIQ identity. The Forum encourages the Expert Mechanism, at its earliest convenience, to engage with the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, and with the participation of indigenous peoples, regarding the removal of indigenous children.
The Permanent Forum also recommends that WIPO organize a second indigenous expert workshop on intellectual property and genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions before 2021
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.
The Forum invites the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, within the purview of his mandate, to pay special attention to and make recommendations concerning the rights of indigenous children.
The Permanent Forum decides to appoint Mr. Carsten Smith and Mr. Michael Dodson, members of the Permanent Forum, as special rapporteurs to undertake a study about indigenous fishing rights in the seas.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Union for Conservation of Nature actively engage with indigenous organizations, relevant United Nations entities, non-governmental organizations and other actors to develop a set of actions and commitments in relation to conservation and human rights in the context of the post-2020 biodiversity framework and the next World Conservation Congress.
Alarmed at attempts to exclude indigenous peoples of Africa in the application of World Bank Operational Policy 4.10, the Permanent Forum recommends that the World Bank immediately initiate consultations with States and indigenous peoples in Africa as part of its safeguards policy review and ensure the application of safeguards to indigenous peoples of Africa, as directed by articles 19 and 41 of the Declaration.
Indigenous peoples in the Pacific rely on marine resources and fisheries for both livelihoods and as a food source. The Permanent Forum encourages United Nations entities to incorporate traditional knowledge into all their work in the region.
The Forum recommends that United Nations bodies, in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity, in coordination with the World Bank, UNDP, FAO and IFAD, and UNEP, organize a workshop on protecting sacred places and ceremonial sites of indigenous peoples with a view to identifying protective mechanisms and instituting a legal framework that make cultural, environmental and social impact assessments studies mandatory and ensure the environmental accountability of economic, social and environmental projects that are proposed to be conducted on sacred sites and on lands, territories and waters traditionally occupied or used by indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the United Nations entities that constitute UN-Water to ensure the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the realization of the outcomes of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference in order to ensure their engagement in water policy, governance and rights, including with respect to capacity-building, access to clean water, sanitation and water for nature. The Permanent Forum invites UNESCO to report on progress on implementation at the twenty-third session of the Permanent Forum and calls upon UN-Water, UNESCO and other concerned United Nations entities to build coherence among the four United Nations decades on water, oceans, ecosystem restoration and Indigenous Peoples’ languages.
The Forum urges States and the United Nations agencies to support the attendance and participation of indigenous youth at future sessions of the Permanent Forum