The Permanent Forum calls on the chairs of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals to address inequalities through the sustainable development goals, with a special focus on indigenous peoples, in order to uphold human rights for all, eliminate discrimination, reduce inequalities and ensure that no one is left behind.
The Permanent Forum supports the initiative of OHCHR to develop guidelines for the protection of peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the Amazon Region and the Gran Chaco, which are currently under consultation with indigenous organizations and the States concerned. The Permanent Forum recommends that, in developing the guidelines, attention be directed to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly in terms of the right to self-determination. The organizations in closest contact with those indigenous peoples that remain in voluntary isolation or initial contact should be involved in the elaboration of these guidelines.
The Forum decides to create a database of recommendations proposed by Forum members and observers during sessions of the Forum that are not reflected in reports of the sessions, for further consideration.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights investigate the possibility of the development and acceptance of general recommendations relating to the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination by securing their access to their ancestral lands, territories and natural resources.
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 recommends that, in the context of the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, FAO and ILO conduct a study on the human rights violations suffered by indigenous peoples in the fishing sector. The Permanent Forum invites those organizations to present their findings at the annual session of the Permanent Forum to be held in 2024.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the announcement by New Zealand to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the announcement by the United States of America that it will review its position on the Declaration. It also welcomes the indication by Canada in the 2010 Speech from the Throne that it will take steps to endorse the Declaration. The Forum recommends that the United States and Canada expedite their commitments made to endorse the Declaration
The Permanent Forum instructs its secretariat transmit recommendations on lands, territories and natural resources as a contribution to:(a)The report of the Secretary-General to the sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development;(b)An informational document to the sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development on the thematic issue of land and sustainable agricultural rural development;(c)Transmit specific recommendations on water to the study of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the right to water.
The Permanent Forum decides to hold an international expert group meeting to discuss in greater detail the way in which the Forum should address its mandate under article 42 of the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum recommends that all States apply the principles of general comment No. 11 (2009) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, entitled “Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention”.
The Permanent Forum welcomes information from the Government of Bangladesh on progress towards the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. It calls upon Bangladesh to make further efforts towards full implementation of the Accord through constructive dialogue and cooperation with the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council, the three Hill District Councils and the Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission.
Mindful of the human rights violations experienced by indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum encourages States, in particular those in the Pacific region, to recognize and implement the basic fundamental human rights articulated in the Declaration, particularly the right to self-determination.