The Permanent Forum is equally alarmed at the many testimonies from Indigenous Peoples on the establishment of protected areas and conservation measures without the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples and the persistent violations of their human rights in the context of conservation. The Permanent Forum underlines that it is the responsibility of Member States and other actors to obtain free, prior and informed consent directly from Indigenous Peoples when developing policies and legislation pertaining to conservation measures and protected areas.
Celebrating 22 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the first legally binding international instrument affirming human rights for all children, the Permanent Forum welcomes the adoption of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, enabling individual claims and the use of the examination process, and urges States to accede to this important instrument regarding children in the most vulnerable situations, many of whom are indigenous, to allow them access to recourse and redress.
The Permanent Forum intends to develop a working practice for its next session that will engage the Youth Caucus more actively in its work.
Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by Member States in 2015, the Permanent Forum has repeatedly highlighted the importance of ensuring the meaningful and full participation of indigenous peoples in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Unfortunately, the world is not on track to meet globally agreed targets. This has been particularly evident during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which existing inequities have been exacerbated, placing the survival of indigenous peoples at greater risk. During the pandemic, indigenous peoples, in particular indigenous women and girls, have not only been left behind, but have been left even further behind.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the report on the International Workshop on Perspectives of Relationships between Indigenous Peoples and Industrial Corporations, organized jointly by the Administration of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, and the secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, with support from the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, held in Salekhard, Russian Federation, on 2 and 3 July 2007, and calls upon States to fully support and accept the recommendations contained in the report.
The Forum, taking into account the large number of incarcerated indigenous children and youth and the need to assist them in reintegrating into society as soon as possible through socio-educational measures, recommends that the Economic and Social Council urge Governments to ensure greater protection and humane treatment of those children and youth while in prison and youth detention centres, and to provide them with socio-educational measures for their rehabilitation.
The Permanent Forum further urges the General Assembly to proclaim an international year of the world’s indigenous children and youth.
The Permanent Forum calls upon African States and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ languages and to develop culturally appropriate education systems for Indigenous children and youth. The Forum also encourages the development of initiatives to prioritize Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems, especially for women and girls.
Furthermore, States should strengthen measures, systems and resources to effectively address all forms of violence against indigenous women, such as female genital mutilation; child marriage; sexual abuse; forced labour; modern slavery; domestic, institutional and political violence, including in the context of forced displacement; sexual exploitation; trafficking; armed conflict; and the militarization of indigenous lands and territories.
The Forum invites the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, within the purview of his mandate, to pay special attention to and make recommendations concerning the rights of indigenous children.
The Permanent Forum recognizes the particular concerns of African indigenous youth, who are striving against political, social and economic challenges, poverty, marginalization and a lack of capacity development and employment. The Permanent Forum calls upon, among others, the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, including the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, to provide adequate capacity-building programmes and opportunities to enable African indigenous youth, women and persons with disabilities to engage meaningfully with States and other key development players, including by organizing and sponsoring attendance at training sessions, conferences and other forums on indigenous issues.
The Permanent Forum encourages the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to continue its efforts in operationalizing the principle of free, prior and informed consent in its investments, including through the engagement of indigenous experts in project delivery teams.