The Permanent Forum is deeply concerned about the particular vulnerabilities
of indigenous children. In this regard, it notes the study of the Expert Mechanism on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the rights of the indigenous child under the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (A/HRC/48/74) and
the note by the Secretariat entitled “Update on the promotion and application of the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: violence against
children” (E/C.19/2022/4), prepared in collaboration with the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. The Permanent Forum calls
upon Member States to prioritize the human rights of indigenous children and young
people, in cooperation with indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum further calls
upon those States that have not yet ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
including its three Optional Protocols – on a communications procedure, on the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on the involvement of
children in armed conflict, to do so as soon as possible.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund and other relevant entities coordinate in the formulation of key intercultural standards and indicators of quality of care to be considered in the definition of a future post-2015 goal on universal health coverage that includes the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum invites the General Assembly to consider the creation of a distinct United Nations voluntary fund for indigenous youth or the earmarking of existing and future funds to increase and enhance the direct participation of indigenous youth at the United Nations. Furthermore, the Forum encourages every State Member of the United Nations to make multi-year voluntary contributions to such existing and/or future funds.
The Forum urges WHO to attend its sessions, and encourages WHO to submit a report to it at its fourth session, responding to recommendations made by the Forum at its first to third sessions. The Forum regrets that WHO was unable to respond to its recommendations made at its second session, in particular those contained in chapter I, section B, paragraphs 16, 63-64, 68, 74, 79 and 82.
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 invites UNFPA, in collaboration with the Forum, to identify good practices of culturally appropriate intervention models from its work in developing countries that provide support to indigenous peoples, in particular women and girls, in exercising their health and reproductive rights, and to report to the Forum on those models by 2018.
The Permanent Forum further urges the General Assembly to proclaim an international year of the world’s indigenous children and youth.
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.
Despite this critical role, community-regulated indigenous midwifery is often undermined and actively criminalized, to the detriment of the health of indigenous peoples. To close the gap between indigenous and non -indigenous health outcomes, the practice of indigenous midwifery must be supported by state health policy and integration. The right of indigenous peoples to self-determination extends to their reproductive health, and States should put an end to the criminalization of indigenous midwifery and make the necessary legislative and regu latory amendments to legitimize indigenous midwives who are recognized by their communities as health-care providers. States should also support the education of new traditional indigenous midwives via multiple routes of education, including apprenticeship s and the oral transmission of knowledge.
The Permanent Forum, bearing in mind the contributions of indigenous peoples’ traditional medicines to the recovery from the pandemic, invites the World Health Assembly to declare an international year of indigenous peoples’ traditional medicines by 2025.
Member States must urgently address violence against indigenous peoples, including State violence, gender-based violence, forced assimilation and forced child removals, discrimination in the justice system and other forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on gender, religion, disability, age and LGBTIQ identity. The Forum encourages the Expert Mechanism, at its earliest convenience, to engage with the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, and with the participation of indigenous peoples, regarding the removal of indigenous children.
The Permanent Forum also calls upon WHO to work in close cooperation with the Forum in establishing a programme on non-communicable diseases, with special attention to indigenous peoples and diabetes. The Forum recognizes the findings of the Expert Meeting on Indigenous Peoples, Diabetes and Development, held in Copenhagen on 1 and 2 March 2012, and its outcome document entitled “The Copenhagen call to action” and recommends that those outcomes be considered when establishing the programme.