The Permanent Forum continues to raise region-specific concerns about the adverse impact of climate change on indigenous communities (see E/2011/43-E/C.19/2011/14, para. 30) and invites the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to prepare a study on the impact of climate change on indigenous women, for submission to the Forum at its eighteenth session.
The Forum notes the preparation of the World Congress on Protected Areas, to be held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2003, which Forum members consider to be an important meeting calling for their attention and action. The Forum recommends that all laws, policies or work programmes on forests and protected areas guarantee, ensure and respect various aspects of indigenous peoples’ lives, such as their spiritual and cultural lives, lands and territorial rights, including sacred sites, needs and benefits, and recognize their rights of access to and control over the management of forests.
Given the fact that the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women, as well as other forms of violence, including trafficking and domestic violence, has gained increasing public attention in Canada, the Permanent Forum urges the Government of Canada to provide more emergency shelters serving indigenous women, as well as better victim services, and specific programmes to assist indigenous women who have been trafficked.