The Permanent Forum is concerned that, in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Member States are not complying with the Declaration. In one case, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination requested that Norway temporarily suspend the ongoing construction of the Fosen Vind onshore wind power project, which negatively affects the reindeer herding of the South Sami people. The Government of Norway, having concluded that its administrative and legal processes were sufficient, did not implement the interim measures. The Forum urges Member States to respect and comply with decisions made by the United Nations treaty bodies.
The Forum appreciates the preparation by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of the information note on the ways in which indigenous issues have been addressed in Charter-based mechanisms and treaty bodies. The Forum recommends that the Secretary-General prepare, in several stages, an analytical study on the subject. In the initial stage, the Forum recommends the Secretary-General prepare a study on the ways in which indigenous issues have been addressed in the consideration of reports of States parties submitted under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The Permanent Forum appoints Irma Pineda Santiago and Símon Freddy Condo Riveros, members of the Forum, to conduct a study on collective intellectual property and the appropriation of the ideas and creations of indigenous peoples, and to present that study to the Forum at its twenty-first session.
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.
The Permanent Forum urges the Governments of Canada and Denmark and the government of Greenland to follow up on and implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur subsequent to his country visits in 2023. The Forum recommends that a human rights-based approach be taken when investigating and addressing the practices and impacts of the so-called intrauterine device campaign affecting Inuit women and adolescents in Greenland.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in cooperation with the Permanent Forum develop a coherent and strategic plan of action in Africa in cooperation with indigenous peoples and their representative organizations, and that the implementation of the programme of the Office of the High Commissioner to strengthen capacity to protect and advocate for the human rights of indigenous peoples be linked to other United Nations bodies, notably the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), UNESCO and others.
With regard to the development of national action plans, as committed to by Member States at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, the Permanent Forum welcomes the adoption by the Government of El Salvador of a national action plan and encourages its full and effective implementation. The Forum strongly urges other States to follow this good practice and develop their own national action plans for the full implementation of the Declaration. The Forum also encourages States to review recommendations made at past sessions, renew efforts at their implementation and report on progress made by 2021. The Forum invites the United Nations system to support the efforts of Member States in this regard.
The Permanent Forum recommends that those responsible for practices of forced labour or other forms of servitude should be prosecuted under Paraguayan law.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the relevant treaty bodies take into account the Declaration and urges States to include information regarding its implementation in their reports to the universal periodic review of the Human Rights Council.
The Forum decides to invite the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people and the Special Rapporteurs on the right to education and the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health to its seventh session.