The Forum recommends that the Working Group on Indigenous Populations undertake a study on genocidal and ethnocidal practices perpetrated on indigenous peoples, including programmes for sterilization of indigenous women and girls, the use of indigenous communities as subjects for nuclear testing or storage of radioactive waste and the testing of unapproved drugs on indigenous children and peoples.
The Permanent Forum further urges States to improve their collection of data on self-harm and suicide among indigenous children and youth, as well as on violence against indigenous women, boys and girls, to facilitate better understanding of the extent of the problem. States should commit to reducing the incidence of self-harm, violence and suicide among indigenous children and youth through the allocation of adequate resources to holistic prevention and support services, in partnership with indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum is concerned that HIV acquisition rates are higher in Indigenous communities than in the general population. The Permanent Forum encourages the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS to continue its focus on Indigenous Peoples.
The Forum recommends that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as the treaty monitoring body for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, review the compliance of States Parties with article 24, which recognized the basic right of all children to "the provision of adequate and nutritional foods and clean drinking water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution", with particular attention to its impact on traditional subsistence foods, and that the Committee address those issues during the day of general discussion on the indigenous child in September 2003.
Given the rapid increase in diabetes among indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum calls upon WHO to undertake a pilot study to assess its prevalence among selected indigenous peoples worldwide in the seven indigenous geo-cultural regions.
Given increased violence against indigenous peoples in the Amazon region, the Permanent Forum urges the Member States of the region to take urgent, extraordinary and coordinated measures to protect the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, with the aim of maintaining their ownership and use of their territories. The Forum also calls upon the United Nations system and specialized agencies, including OHCHR, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and ILO, to support Member States in the protection of indigenous peoples’ habitats and cultures in the Amazon region in cooperation with indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the evaluation report on action by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to revitalize and promote indigenous languages, within the framework of the International Year of Indigenous Languages. According to the report, which was adopted by the Executive Board of UNESCO, UNESCO and the global task force should adopt lessons learned and the recommendations contained therein during the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, including by developing a road map with clear, measurable and time-bound activities and results. The Forum welcomes the inclusion of indigenous experts in indigenous language revitalization in the coordinating team of UNESCO for the International Decade and stresses the continuing need for such experts in the future. With a view to enhancing the global accessibility of all relevant information pertaining to the Decade, the use of the six official languages of the United Nations is crucial.
The Forum recommends that WHO, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the United Nations Population Fund convene a workshop on indigenous health, with the goal of addressing a system-wide strategy to address the health needs of indigenous peoples and setting out the terms of reference for a study on the health needs of indigenous peoples, with particular emphasis on indigenous children and women including infant mortality, reproductive rights, sterilization, domestic abuse and addiction and the collection of data relating to these issues. The Forum recommends that its focal point and a representative of the Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus on Health be invited to attend and be provided the means to participate.
States should recognize the rights of indigenous peoples to food and nutritional security and the sustainable production and consumption of healthy and nutritious foods by using appropriate sustainable technology. There is a particular need to ensure that indigenous peoples who depend on marine and terrestrial resources be supported in protecting and ensuring their rights to and sustainable use of those resources.
The Permanent Forum recommends that WHO create and convene regional round tables to address the issue of indigenous peoples and the pandemic in order to ensure that the indigenous peoples of the globe are uniquely considered in mitigation efforts. Such round tables would also offer a timely opportunity to coordinate actions for responding to the impact of the pandemic on indigenous peoples.
The Forum recommends that the United Nations agencies supporting and promoting the Healthy Environments for Children Alliance, namely WHO, UNICEF, UNEP and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UN-HABITAT), include a particular focus on indigenous children and youth.
The Permanent Forum notes with concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased sexual and reproductive health challenges worldwide and stresses that there is a need for Governments to implement the commitments they made during the summit held in Nairobi in 2019 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of on the International Conference on Population and Development.