The Permanent Forum reiterates the call, made at its tenth session, to United Nations agencies and funds to conduct and support regional and international human rights training programmes aimed at building the capacity and advocacy skills of indigenous youth. Furthermore, the Forum recommends the use of social media, youth forums and other popular cultural forms of communication to disseminate information and training material on the rights of indigenous youth and to facilitate consultation processes at the national and international levels.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations funds and programmes and specialized agencies actively engage in the process leading up to the World Conference by prioritizing the development of concrete ways to support the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in the World Conference, including technical and financial support.
The Permanent Forum takes notes of the recent publication of the adolescent-friendly version of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by UNICEF, the Forum and the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. The Forum recommends that UNICEF, Member States and indigenous peoples translate this publication into all languages, in particular indigenous languages. The Forum also recommends that Member States, indigenous peoples and others use this publication in the curricula of studies of indigenous and non-indigenous youth.
The Permanent Forum recalls its recommendation at the twentieth session, in which it emphasized that existing mechanisms to support the participation of indigenous peoples in processes that affect them must adapt to the new environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and support the online participation of indigenous peoples. Such support includes purchasing data packages and facilitating access to electricity and necessary hardware and in-country travel to gain access to stable Internet connections. The Permanent Forum recommends that the existing mandate of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples, as reflected in General Assembly resolution 70/232, be expanded to that effect and calls on Member States to ensure that the proposal for the expansion of their mandate is introduced at the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly in the annual resolution on the rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends United Nations entities that have not done so to incorporate indigenous peoples-driven platforms in order to give advice on and to promote indigenous peoples’ issues, as well as consider the participation of the Permanent Forum together with indigenous peoples in such platforms.
The Forum urges States and the United Nations agencies to support the attendance and participation of indigenous youth at future sessions of the Permanent Forum
The Permanent Forum recommends that urban indigenous issues be given important consideration on the agenda of the fourth session of the World Urban Forum, and notes the organization by UN-Habitat of a round-table event on this theme. The Forum urges States, United Nations agencies and indigenous peoples’ organizations to cooperate with UN-Habitat in the lead up to this and other events at the fourth session, including through input and participation.
During the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the members of the Permanent Forum were not able to register as United Nations experts. Forum members attend many United Nations meetings where their specific status is not recognized. The Forum therefore recommends that Member States include Forum members as United Nations experts, not as part of major groups, in United Nations accreditation processes.
The Forum recommends the designation of focal points in the United Nations country teams or the country offices of United Nations agencies, funds and programs, with a mandate to deal with indigenous issues, inter alia, to follow-up on the implementation of recommendations of the Forum, and the objectives of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People
The Permanent Forum urges UNDP to enhance its own capacity in the area of indigenous peoples’ issues by ensuring sufficient expertise and human resources, in particular at the headquarters level, but also in its regional centres, including regional policy advisers on indigenous peoples’ issues who are able to provide adequate support to country offices.
In support of their country-level programming, and with a view to a deeper appreciation of indigenous peoples’ perceptions of such interventions, UNICEF and UNFPA should undertake a study on the social, cultural, legal and spiritual institutions of indigenous peoples and how these affect the rights of women and children as laid out in local, regional and global frameworks.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States ensure access to justice for indigenous peoples, including indigenous women, through formal justice institutions, national human rights institutions and other forms of redress or recourse, all while taking into account indigenous peoples’ customary laws, institutions and processes, consistent with articles 21, 22 and 34 of the Declaration.