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 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.
The Permanent Forum further urges the General Assembly to proclaim an international year of the world’s indigenous children and youth.
Reports received by the Permanent Forum indicate that United Nations agencies, notably UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), incorporate indigenous issues into their health programming at the country and regional levels and apply culturally sensitive approaches to health delivery. The Forum encourages those agencies to share their experience in health programming for indigenous peoples with other relevant United Nations agencies working in the field.
The Permanent Forum recommends that WHO, in coordination with PAHO, engage indigenous health experts in efforts to eradicate tuberculosis, including through intercultural approaches, and to report to the Forum at its nineteenth session.
The Permanent Forum urges States to generate statistics disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, indigenous identity, language, language skills and self-identification, and to provide sources of data to allow for a more accurate assessment of whether indigenous children and youth are actually benefiting from the expenditure earmarked for them. The Forum also urges United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to support member States in generating statistics and the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes and academic centres to produce a toolkit that provides a comprehensive and an accurate overview of human development indicators concerning indigenous children and youth.
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 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 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 recommends that WHO conduct a study on the health effects on indigenous peoples throughout the world caused by uranium mining, dumping of radioactive waste and nuclear testing on indigenous held lands and territories, and provide a report to the ninth session of the Forum in 2010.
Reinforce the investments in population and reproductive health which is crucial for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals - to reduce poverty, achieve universal primary education, improve maternal and child health, curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, promote gender equality, ensure sustainable development, and establish a strong partnership for development
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.