The Permanent Forum welcomes the draft general recommendation on the rights of indigenous women and girls of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Permanent Forum reiterates its recommendation, contained in the report on its twentieth session (E/2021/43, para. 32), that the general recommendation be adopted at the earliest opportunity. The Permanent Forum invites the Committee to share its plans for implementation of the general recommendation at the twenty-third session of the Permanent Forum, to be held in 2024.
In September 2024, 10 years will have passed since the adoption by the General Assembly of the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, and of its annex, the Alta outcome document. The Permanent Forum calls upon the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly to hold a “World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Plus 10” in August 2024 to allow Member States, United Nations entities and indigenous peoples to report on implementation of the outcome document, with the full participation of indigenous peoples.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of indigenous peoples, including nomadic peoples. Furthermore, the pandemic has exacerbated the plight of young women with regard to forced early marriage, female genital mutilation and lack of access to health care. The Permanent Forum calls on Member States to implement effective measures to address these challenges in their post-pandemic recovery efforts
Indigenous peoples have been a distinct constituency at the United Nations since 1977 and, with the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly in 2007, their inherent rights were affirmed as the international minimum standard. The Permanent Forum reiterates the position of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, namely that it is unacceptable to undermine the status and standing of indigenous peoples by combining or equating them with non-indigenous entities such as minorities, vulnerable groups or local communities. Such attempts, whether by States or United Nations entities, are not acceptable and will be challenged by indigenous peoples and those mandated to defend their rights. The Permanent Forum urges all United Nations entities and States parties to treaties concerning the environment, biodiversity and the climate to eliminate the use of the term “local communities” in conjunction with indigenous peoples, so that the term “indigenous peoples and local communities” would be abolished.
The Permanent Forum acknowledges the important work of the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean on its thirtieth anniversary. The Permanent Forum encourages Member States, United Nations entities and indigenous peoples to support strengthening the work of the Fund.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), facilitate a series of online regional meetings in 2023 to discuss the development of standards and redress mechanisms for conservation programmes that affect indigenous peoples’ lands, territories and waters. The dialogue should include the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the rights of indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum, indigenous peoples’ representatives, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and other stakeholders. The Permanent Forum would welcome a presentation of the outcomes of such a meeting at its twenty-third session, to be held in 2024.
The Permanent Forum recalls the request it made at its fifteenth session (E/2016/43, para. 47) for UNESCO to host a joint seminar with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other relevant United Nations mechanisms for the purpose of exploring the development of a new international mechanism on the repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains. In this regard, the Permanent Forum deeply regrets the absence of UNESCO from the expert group meeting organized by the Expert Mechanism in March 2020 in Vancouver, Canada, to discuss steps for the implementation of such a mechanism. The Permanent Forum recommends the leadership, involvement and cooperation of UNESCO in efforts to implement the recommendations arising from that meeting, as well as the previous recommendation of the Permanent Forum related to the repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains, including through the creation of an international database and inventory of such items accessible to indigenous peoples as a basis for initiating dialogue. The Permanent Forum wishes to remind UNESCO and other United Nations entities that the repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains is enshrined in articles 11 and 12 of the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum continues to be concerned by the lack of participation of African indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum recommends that the General Assembly encourage relevant United Nations entities to make the necessary financial and administrative arrangements that allow for the participation of indigenous peoples at relevant United Nations meetings, including online.
The Permanent Forum is concerned about the lack of data on indigenous peoples across the United Nations system, especially with regard to target 17.18 of the Sustainable Development Goals concerning the development of inclusive policies that leave no one behind. The Permanent Forum recognizes the need for establishing standards on the collection, analysis and dissemination of statistical information related to indigenous peoples and will engage in efforts with relevant stakeholders to achieve these ends. As a first step, the Permanent Forum invites United Nations entities to make their statistics on indigenous peoples accessible.
The Permanent Forum recalls its recommendation at the twentieth session, in which it emphasized that existing mechanisms to support the participation of indigenous peoples in processes that affect them must adapt to the new environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and support the online participation of indigenous peoples. Such support includes purchasing data packages and facilitating access to electricity and necessary hardware and in-country travel to gain access to stable Internet connections. The Permanent Forum recommends that the existing mandate of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples, as reflected in General Assembly resolution 70/232, be expanded to that effect and calls on Member States to ensure that the proposal for the expansion of their mandate is introduced at the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly in the annual resolution on the rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the work of the Government of Bangladesh with United Nations country offices to support peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Permanent Forum further welcomes the ongoing study on the status of implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord of 1997 and invites the Government of Bangladesh, with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, to report on the results of the study at the twenty-second session of the Permanent Forum, setting a timeframe for its full implementation. The Permanent Forum also calls upon the Government of Bangladesh to continue to address all forms of violence, including enforced disappearances, and sexual violence against women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts committed by law enforcement agencies.
The Permanent Forum recognizes the importance of exploring possibilities for strengthening cooperation with the human rights treaty bodies on issues of relevance to its mandate. The Permanent Forum therefore invites the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies each to designate a representative to participate in the twenty-second session of the Permanent Forum, to be held in 2023.