The Permanent Forum notes that indigenous youth in the region are often forced to leave their home and lands to receive an education, which can pose an obstacle to the right to education. The Permanent Forum urges States in Central and Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia to take measures to ensure the enjoyment of the right to education by indigenous youth. The Permanent Forum encourages States of the region to facilitate the development of indigenous peoples’ self-administration, the development of their inner potential and human resources, forming parliaments following the example of the Sami people; and decent representation of the small-numbered indigenous peoples in the bodies of legislative and executive power on all levels.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States and the United Nations system, with particular attention to the activities of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), introduce indigenous youth perspectives into existing youth policies and plans, including the five-year action agenda of the Secretary-General to address health issues. In addition, there should be a distinct focus on indigenous youth by improving participation in decision-making and by introducing and including mental health services for young people, with particular efforts to address suicide among indigenous youth.
The Permanent Forum urges all States to substantially increase the human and financial resources made available to all indigenous communities and schools to prevent self-harm and suicide among young people, and for holistic treatment based on cultural, spiritual and linguistic revitalization, providing healthy and positive lifestyle choices and access to traditional methods of counselling based on accurate and reliable data.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth, in cooperation with indigenous young people, urgently address self-harm and suicide among indigenous young people and invites him to inform the Forum on progress in that regard at its fifteenth session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations Children’s Fund develop and adopt a comprehensive and distinct policy on indigenous children and young people, taking into account the human rights affirmed in the United Nations Declaration and in consultation and collaboration with indigenous peoples and indigenous children and youth organizations in particular.
The Permanent Forum also welcomes the interest of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children in joining the Inter-Agency Support Group and calls upon the Special Representative to work closely with the members of the Forum in preparing a section on the situation of indigenous children in the Special Representative’s annual reports to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.
The Permanent Forum welcomes with appreciation the decision of the General Assembly, in its resolution 66/141, to request that the Secretary-General submit to the Assembly at its sixty-seventh session a comprehensive report on the rights of the child, including a focus on indigenous children. The Forum wishes to take part in any initiative undertaken by the Secretary-General in preparing the comprehensive report on the rights of the child.
Celebrating 22 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the first legally binding international instrument affirming human rights for all children, the Permanent Forum welcomes the adoption of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, enabling individual claims and the use of the examination process, and urges States to accede to this important instrument regarding children in the most vulnerable situations, many of whom are indigenous, to allow them access to recourse and redress.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the UNDP Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support initiative, with its focus on indigenous women and youth in Latin America, and appreciates the contributions provided by donors to ensure the success of the initiative. The Forum recommends that Member States, UN-Women and UNICEF provide financial support for this important initiative for indigenous women and youth.