The Permanent Forum reiterates its concern over environmental violence, in particular the pervasive impacts of such violence on indigenous women and girls. The Forum takes note with appreciation of the recommendations from the third International Indigenous Women’s Symposium on Environment and Reproductive Health, held at Columbia University in New York on 14 and 15 April 2018. The Forum recommends that members of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues and the relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council consider ways to address and incorporate the recommendations from that Symposium.
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.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the efforts of Member States, United Nations entities and other intergovernmental organizations to implement the Declaration, as reaffirmed in the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, as well as the recommendations of the Forum, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous People in various regions, and urges them to take specific measures in this regard.
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.
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)
The Forum recognizes that: (a) Gender equality has a central role in development policy with a focus on poverty reduction, human rights and the Millennium Development Goals, in particular, economic, social, sexual and reproductive health and rights, including good governance and democratic institutions, and to the creation of a world where people live free from fear and want, in dignity and peace; (b) The elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education requires an improvement in access, continuity, quality, and management of women's education at all levels with cultural relevance
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.
The Permanent Forum notes with appreciation the work of the trilateral working group on violence against indigenous women and girls and urges Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, in cooperation with United Nations entities, to organize an international expert group meeting, by 2021, on ongoing issues of violence against indigenous women and girls in the region, including trafficking, as well as the continuing crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women.
The Constitution of Nepal has provisions for special, protected and autonomous regions for Indigenous Peoples. The Permanent Forum welcomes further progress towards realizing the provisions of the Constitution, including by considering the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to Nepal in 2018 on respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their traditional lands and resources and to self-determination.
In the context of the implementation of the Policy on Ethnicity and Health, adopted by the executive committee of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in 2017 (CE160.R11), the Permanent Forum invites PAHO and the World Health Organization (WHO) to collaborate with health institutions and policymakers to address issues related to indigenous maternal health, including the practice of indigenous midwifery. It recommends that PAHO prepare a study on the advancements in indigenous maternal health, including best practices used by indigenous midwives and supportive organizations. The Forum invites PAHO to submit the report by 2020.
Request the Commission on Human Rights to support the request that the Special Rapporteur on violence against women conduct a workshop/study on violence against indigenous women in coordination with the Permanent Forum and to report on progress at the sixth session of the Permanent Forum
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Secretary-General, in his report on the study of violence against women, address the particular situation of indigenous women and girls whose suffering is based not only on gender but also on ethnicity and culture.