The Permanent Forum is convinced that a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples will be an instrument of great value through which to advance the rights and aspirations of the world’s indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum therefore recommends the adoption without amendments of the draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples as contained in the proposals of the Chairperson of the working group of the Commission on Human Rights on the draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples (see E/CN.4/2006/79, annex I) by the General Assembly during its sixty-first session in 2006. This would represent a major achievement for the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and relevant special rapporteurs working in the field of human rights review the implementation of their recommendations and provide reports to the Permanent Forum at its seventh session regarding their interactions with relevant States and indigenous peoples and activate, with OHCHR, when necessary, United Nations inter-agency and inter-department early warning procedures and rapid response mechanisms.
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 calls upon States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to establish national initiatives, programmes and plans of work to implement the Declaration with clear timelines and priorities. States and indigenous peoples should report regularly to their national legislative bodies and to the Forum on the progress and shortcomings in implementing the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Government of Paraguay should remain firm in its commitment to cooperating with indigenous peoples’ organizations in order to find emergency solutions to the extremely serious situation of the indigenous communities that have been wholly dispossessed of their land, and to implement policies to ensure the reconstitution of their territory.
The Permanent Forum expresses its appreciation to the Member States that have already submitted information to it over the years, and encourages all States to submit substantive information on measures taken to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum urges the Governments of Central and Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia regions to work in good faith with indigenous peoples for the unqualified endorsement and full implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Mauna Kea, the sacred mountain for native Hawaiians, is currently targeted for the placement of an international observatory featuring a 30-metre telescope. Such an activity inhibits and is contrary to the rights articulated in articles 11 and 12 of the United Nations Declaration. In addition, the Permanent Forum strongly recommends that the free, prior and informed consent of native Hawaiians be recognized.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States incorporate adequate information on the implementation of the Declaration in their core reports to the human rights treaty bodies.
The Permanent Forum appoints Brian Keane and Elifuraha Laltaika, members of the Forum, to undertake a study to examine conservation and indigenous peoples’ human rights, to be submitted to the Forum at its seventeenth session.
The human rights-based approach to development should be operationalized by States, the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations, inlcuding the international financial institutions, and should be the framework underpinning the Millennium Development Goals and poverty reduction strategies, programmes and activities. The recognition of indigenous peoples as distinct peoples and the respect for their individual and collective human rights, rights to lands and territories and sustainable use of natural resources are crucial for achieving a just and sustainable solution to the widespread poverty in their midst. Relevant international treaties, such as International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169, common article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which declares that "no people shall be deprived of its own means of subsistence", as well as bilateral State-indigenous treaties or accords, should be implemented to ensure compliance and implementation
The Permanent Forum welcomes the initiatives of national human rights institutions, such as those from Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and encourages other human rights institutions to conduct national inquiries on the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources.