The Permanent Forum welcomes the decision of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people to monitor violence against indigenous women and girls in Canada, including missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, in accordance with his mandate. Furthermore, the Permanent Forum requests that the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, as well as the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, address the situation of violence against indigenous women in the United States as well.
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.
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.