Request the Commission on Human Rights to support the request that the Special Rapporteur on violence against women conduct a workshop/study on violence against indigenous women in coordination with the Permanent Forum and to report on progress at the sixth session of the Permanent Forum
The Permanent Forum urges States parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to seriously consider the recommendations of the above-mentioned international expert group meeting.
The Permanent Forum expresses appreciation to Mr. Michael Dodson for his concept paper on traditional knowledge, and recommends that the paper be widely circulated. The Permanent Forum invites States, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and indigenous peoples and their organizations and academic institutions to submit written comments to the secretariat for consideration at the seventh session of the Permanent Forum. The Permanent Forum welcomes the support and notes that the recommendation in paragraph 24 of the report of the Special Rapporteur states that: “the Permanent Forum should commission a study ... to determine whether there ought to be a shift in the focus on the protection of indigenous traditional knowledge away from intellectual property law to protection via customary law ... The study should consider how indigenous traditional knowledge could be protected at an international level by utilizing customary law, including the extent to which customary law should be reflected, thereby providing guidance to States and, subsequently, protection at national and regional levels”. The Permanent Forum would particularly welcome written submissions addressing the above recommendation. The Permanent Forum re-appoints Mr. Dodson as Special Rapporteur to present a follow-up study on indigenous traditional knowledge, taking into account the written submissions, and to present the report to the seventh session of the Permanent Forum in 2008.
The Permanent Forum decides to appoint Mr. Lars Anders-Baer, a member of the Permanent Forum, as a special rapporteur to undertake a study to determine the impact of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures on reindeer herding.
States, United Nations agencies, funds and programs should mobilize support for indigenous peoples who are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change prepare a special report within its seventh assessment cycle, led by Indigenous academics, scientists and traditional knowledge holders, to assess the opportunities for and threats against Indigenous Peoples in the areas of adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage.
The Permanent Forum is concerned that legal obligations and commitments and indigenous peoples’ treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements with States are routinely denied and violated by States. With regard to interventions by indigenous peoples on unresolved land rights, including the Six Nations of the Grand River and others on which the Forum has made specific recommendations in the past, the Forum calls upon States to fairly and equitably redress the long-standing unresolved land rights issues through good-faith negotiations, consistent with the United Nations Declaration and without extinguishing indigenous peoples’ land rights.
The Permanent Forum decides to send a member of the Forum to participate in the Conference to present the outcome of its ninth session on the question of development with culture and identity.
In this regard, the Forum invites the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to pay special attention to the situation of indigenous peoples and address these issues in accordance with their mandates. The Forum recommends that IOM and UNHCR develop specific guidelines on indigenous migrants and to actively participate in the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues.
The Permanent Forum appoints Anne Nuorgam, a member of the Forum, to undertake a study to examine freshwater fishing and hunting rights of indigenous peoples, to be submitted to the Forum at its seventeenth session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States develop mechanisms through which they can monitor and report on the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples, mindful of their socio-economic limitations as well as spiritual and cultural attachment to lands and waters.
Regarding the negotiations taking place at the sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Permanent Forum reiterates the urgent need to develop an instrument that responds to the current lack of adequate protection of traditional knowledge and recognizes indigenous peoples as equal stakeholders and the legitimate holders of their knowledge. The Forum calls upon the Intergovernmental Committee to fast-track the negotiations and to use its core budget to fund indigenous peoples’ participation in the deliberations.