The Permanent Forum highly appreciates the initiatives undertaken by IFAD to highlight the need to give a high profile to indigenous issues within the organization and globally by nominating an Assistant President on Special Assignment for Indigenous and Tribal Issues. The Permanent Forum recommends that IFAD ensure that the gains made so far are sustained in the future and urges other organizations and international financial institutions to follow the Fund’s example by assigning a person in a senior management position to coordinate indigenous issues within their organization.
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.