The Permanent Forum welcomes the initiative of the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to host the International Conference on Biological and Cultural Diversity: Diversity for Development (8-10 June 2010, Montreal, Canada) to develop a joint programme of work on biological and cultural diversity, and requests that future work include broad partnerships with the Permanent Forum, other relevant agencies, indigenous peoples’ organizations and non-governmental organizations
A recommendation for expert group meeting on water to carry out a close review and assessment of water allocation, regulation and access policies that affect the rights and health of indigenous peoples and to explore and establish indicators of water well-being for indigenous nations and the world community.
The Forum recommends that the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change sponsor a workshop to discuss the merits and mechanisms for the establishment of a working group on indigenous peoples within the Conference of the Parties process, ensuring the participation of indigenous peoples from developed and undeveloped countries as well as interested member States.
The Permanent Forum recommends that all United Nations agencies concerned with water, including UNESCO and the International Hydrological Programme, UNICEF, WHO, UNDP, the United Nations Environment Programme and FAO, give full support to the planning, development and implementation of an indigenous world forum on water in order to give voice to the indigenous peoples’ perspective of protection and access to all sources of water and its sacred role in the indigenous context.