The Forum welcomes the inclusion in the 2003 Ibero-American Summit of a focus on indigenous children, and recommends that UNICEF report to the Forum on the results of the Summit in that area, and to indicate how lessons can be learned and policy approaches improved concerning indigenous children in other parts of the world with indigenous peoples, specifically Asia and Africa.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other relevant organizations adopt targeted policies, programmes, projects and budgets designed to address the staggering prevalence of diabetes among indigenous peoples and put in place culturally appropriate health services, health education and awareness-raising initiatives to treat diabetes and prevent its rapid growth. Particular attention should be given to pregnant women, whose reproductive health is closely linked to the future risk of their children developing diabetes.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Secretary-General, in his report on the study of violence against women, address the particular situation of indigenous women and girls whose suffering is based not only on gender but also on ethnicity and culture.
The Permanent Forum, reaffirming the recommendations on health made at its first, second and third sessions, further recommends that all relevant United Nations entities, especially WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNFPA, as well as regional health organizations and Governments, fully incorporate a cultural perspective into health policies, programmes and reproductive health services aimed at providing indigenous women with quality health care, including emergency obstetric care, voluntary family planning and skilled attendance at birth. In the latter context, the roles of traditional midwives should be re-evaluated and expanded so that they may assist indigenous women during their reproductive health processes and act as cultural brokers between health systems and the indigenous communities’ values and world views
The Permanent Forum has, in recent years, expressed considerable concern regarding the situation of indigenous youth and the lack of disaggregated data thereon. In 2016, the Forum decided to include a recurring item on indigenous youth in the agenda of its annual sessions and has issued several youth-specific recommendations. The Forum welcomes the progress made and encourages further action by indigenous organizations and youth, as well as by members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development and the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues, in implementing those recommendations.
The Permanent Forum calls upon Member States to put in place specific plans for improving the health of Indigenous Peoples, including the sexual and reproductive health of Indigenous women, with particular attention to the health of Indigenous two-spirit persons, children and nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, as well as Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation, in initial contact, in remote areas and in other vulnerable situations. The Permanent Forum also recommends that States provide adequate funding to Indigenous Peoples to support and ensure access to Indigenous health care, education and mental health and well-being resources.
The Permanent Forum requests that UNICEF prepare a report on the state of the world’s children, with a thematic focus on indigenous children. The report should give special attention to the implementation by Member States of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and general comment No. 11 (2009) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on indigenous children and their rights under the Convention. Furthermore, the Forum requests UNICEF to begin to disaggregate data on indigenous children, including from its existing database.
The Forum recommends that the Global Fund and UNAIDS participate in the Inter-Agency Support Group and that the Fund and UNAIDS present a report on the impact of their programmes and activities on indigenous peoples and communities to the Permanent Forum at its 2004 session, with specific focus on preventative programmes and activities impacting children and infants.
A request of the UNPFII and the UN Youth Unit in DESA to continue facilitating the involvement of the Youth Caucus in its sessions.
Considering the increasing impact of climate change on the health of indigenous peoples, particularly in terms of increased vulnerability to water-borne and vector-borne disease, the World Health Organization is encouraged to actively engage the Permanent Forum and its secretariat and establish a dialogue with a view to organizing a meeting on this issue in 2009.
The Permanent Forum urges UN-Women, UNDP, other relevant United Nations agencies and Governments to support the political participation of indigenous women by assigning resources to training and exchange programmes and strengthening organization and networks of indigenous women.
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.