The Permanent Forum encourages Member States, local authorities and UNESCO to assist indigenous peoples in establishing working groups on language planning, development and modernization, with financial support. Furthermore, the Permanent Forum recommends that UNESCO undertake a study on best practices for language curriculum development and publicize its findings by 2024.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the launch of the publication Global Indigenous Youth: Through their Eyes by the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. The Forum recommends that international organizations, indigenous youth organizations, academia and other stakeholders undertake similar initiatives to raise awareness on the challenges facing indigenous young people.
The Permanent Forum recognizes that land conflict is a controversial issue and encourages Member States and indigenous peoples to continue dialogue to find common solutions.
The Forum, taking into account that indigenous children, youth and women are more vulnerable and are often physically and psychologically mistreated, and that children represent the future of indigenous peoples, recommends that the Council support the declaration of an international day or an international year of the indigenous child, to be celebrated with awareness-raising activities to honour the cultural identity of indigenous peoples.
Youth employment poverty-reduction strategies of States and the intergovernmental system should especially focus on indigenous youth, women and men, who are among the most marginalized within the current economic system. Addressing the needs of indigenous youth will also help to achieve Millennium Development Goal 3 and address pressures and problems arising from mass rural-to-urban migration
The Permanent Forum notes the organization of preparatory meetings for indigenous youth for its sixteenth session, including the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus meeting hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Forum recommends that this practice be scaled up in 2018, with representative participation of indigenous youth through indigenous peoples’ organizations from all regions, and invites FAO to report on progress achieved to the Forum at its seventeenth session.
The Permanent Forum acknowledges the commitments and support of the Member States that have established action plans, in parallel with the Global Action Plan, that include support for transformative initiatives that strengthen and protect Indigenous languages, such as the establishment of universities of Indigenous Peoples’ languages in Mexico and Morocco and the efforts of Nordic and other countries in committing to engaging in digital communication and information technologies for Indigenous Peoples’ languages. For those Member States that have yet to develop an action plan, the Permanent Forum reiterates the call for Member States to initiate such plans, in full cooperation with Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the secretariat of the Permanent Forum, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UNDP and the United Nations Programme on Youth cooperate closely with the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus to conduct and support regional and international human rights training programmes to build the capacity and advocacy skills of indigenous youth.
The Permanent Forum requests United Nations entities, in particular those working on land tenure and changes in land use, to advance the research on securing the land and territorial rights of indigenous peoples, taking into account the negative impacts of, inter alia, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic and regional conflicts.
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 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 requests that UNICEF design, in partnership with other relevant United Nations agencies, a protocol for emergency situations resulting from natural disasters to ensure that, in cases of emergency, there are no violations of the human rights of indigenous peoples, especially indigenous youth, children and women, owing to forced relocation.