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 welcomes efforts made by UN-Women, in the preparation of the first global report on indigenous women and girls, to highlight progress in the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and prospects for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals as they relate to indigenous women and girls, including in matters related to informal work, migration and working conditions. The Forum recommends that UN-Women continue this work in close cooperation with indigenous women’s organizations.
The Permanent Forum commends UNICEF and UNFPA for their work to combat female genital mutilation practices and urges them to continue their efforts with indigenous peoples and their communities.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund and other relevant United Nations entities collaborate with indigenous organizations in all regions to develop comprehensive guidelines, including best practices for culturally safe sex education by and for indigenous peoples. That type of comprehensive education may serve as an effective violence-prevention means.
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.
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 reiterates previous recommendations that WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNFPA, as well as regional health organizations and Governments, fully incorporate a cultural perspective into health policies and programmes and reproductive health services aimed at providing indigenous women with quality health care, including emergency obstetric care, voluntary family planning and skilled attendance at birth. The roles of traditional midwives should be re-evaluated and expanded so that they may assist indigenous women during their reproductive health processes and act as cultural brokers between health systems and indigenous peoples.
Indigenous women’s collective rights and the decolonization of State structures are essential to implementing general recommendation No. 39. The Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) conduct and present a study by 2025 on the impacts of colonization on the rights of Indigenous women and girls, including within the context of the UN-Women strategy for the inclusion and visibility of Indigenous women, in collaboration with other United Nations entities. The study should identify critical action areas and strategies to advance the implementation of general recommendation No. 39.
The Permanent Forum reiterates the call, made at its fifth and eleventh sessions, upon 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. The Forum further recommends the use of youth forums, social media 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 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 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.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the under the auspices of a steering committee consisting of the Women's Refugee Commission, Equality Now, Equal Rights Trust, Tilburg University, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). The Forum therefore calls upon those Member States whose constitutional provisions and legislation require review, as a matter of urgency, to support this global campaign, consistent with the Declaration and the rights of indigenous women highlighted in articles 21 and 22. (Corrigendum. E/2014/43/Corr.1-E/C.19/2014/11/Corr.1)