The Forum welcomes the participation and perspective of indigenous women and girls with disabilities, recognizes the distinct vulnerability and marginalization that such indigenous individuals encounter as members of an indigenous group, and encourages United Nations agencies, and Governments and organizations, to include their views.
The Forum urges indigenous organizations to make more effective use of existing international human rights monitoring instruments, such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and to bring communications to their attention regarding claims of violence of different forms against indigenous women, to ensure States take steps to end the persistent and unaddressed violence, including murders and disappearances of indigenous women.
The Forum welcomes the adoption by the Commission on the Status of Women at its fifty-sixth session of the resolution entitled “Indigenous women: key actors in poverty and hunger eradication” (see E/2012/27-E/CN.6/2012/16, resolution 56/4) and calls for its implementation.
The Forum recommends that the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and the bureau of the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women include indigenous women as experts on violence against women in the interactive panels and guarantee the participation of indigenous women in the process of preparation for and during the fifty-seventh session of the Commission.
The Forum affirms the recommendation contained in paragraph 57 of the report, urging States to implement and strengthen national censuses and data collection on socioeconomic and well-being indicators to include data disaggregation in relation to violence against indigenous women and girls; reiterates the importance of peace and security to the lives of indigenous women and children and endorses the recommendation contained in paragraph 68 of the report, that States should implement Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009) and 1960 (2010); reaffirms the recommendation contained in paragraph 51 that indigenous communities should consider creating and supporting initiatives to monitor and assess the situation of violence against indigenous women and girls and present regular reports to the Permanent Forum on violence against indigenous women and girls; and endorses the recommendation contained in paragraph 55, that United Nations agencies, bodies and other entities support the development of protocol templates for police practices involving missing persons cases of indigenous women and girls, and that indigenous peoples and States work in partnership to implement these protocol templates to increase their effectiveness and to be consistent with international human rights laws, norms and standards.
The Forum endorses the report and recommendations of the three-day international expert group meeting on the theme “Combating violence against indigenous women and girls: article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” (E/C.19/2012/6). The Forum requests that the report form part of the official documentation of the Commission on the Status of Women at its fifty-seventh session, to be held in 2013.
The Forum expresses its concerns regarding continued violence against women and, owing to the seriousness of these conditions, reiterates its previous recommendations regarding: human and sex trafficking; prostitution and trans-border issues; the disappearance, or murder, of aboriginal women; issues related to identification and birth certificates; environmental violence; intergenerational trauma; youth suicide; peace and security; conflict prevention and resolution; cultural practices such as female genital mutilation or cutting; bride price and promised brides; racism and discrimination; and data disaggregation.
The Forum urges the United Nations funds, agencies and programmes and multilateral cooperation entities, including UNIFEM, to adopt policies and strengthen existing funds for financing and supporting indigenous women’s participation, strengthening their own participation and social development options in all initiatives that promote their cultural identities.
The Forum recommends that Governments integrate a gender framework that encompasses all areas of their work, including their agricultural and economic policies, and include in their policies actions that directly benefit indigenous women, through the following measures:
(a) Provide access for indigenous women to funding from public budgets;
(b) Create specific measures that enhance women’s participation in their own development processes;
(c) Create national policies that generate employment for indigenous women;
(d) Improve indigenous women’s access to education and the development of their skills, and reform education systems so that they allow women to take advantage of training and employment opportunities;
(e) Strengthen programmes in indigenous communities that ensure benefits for indigenous women.
The Forum recalls the Millennium Development Goal to "Achieve universal primary education", especially for indigenous women and girls, as well as the Dakar Framework for Action, "Education for all: meeting our collective commitments", and reiterates its support, with a focus on indigenous women and girls. In accordance with the provision contained in the relevant international instruments, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Labour Organization Convention 169 and the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, some Governments have in recent years, taking into account their specific situations, formulated policies and programmes to safeguard indigenous peoples’ equal rights to education, and have adopted positive measures to address indigenous education issues. These should be promoted as good practices throughout the United Nations system and broadly to all Member States. Furthermore, to achieve equitable
educational outcomes for indigenous peoples, especially indigenous women and girls, Governments should adopt special measures (UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education).
The Forum, to underscore its long-term commitment to the issue of "indigenous women", recommends that its secretariat:
a. Assist IANWGE in its efforts to mainstream indigenous women’s issues throughout the United Nations system;
b. Strengthen liaison with the Forum’s portfolio holders in order to provide feedback on indigenous women’s issues in each of the mandated areas to the Forum;
c. Promote the monitoring and reporting on the implementation process of programmes within the United Nations system designed to address indigenous women’s issues and the assessment of their impact;
d. Increase outreach to indigenous women’s groups and assist them in networking and information-sharing;
e. Create strong liaison relationship with universities and other institutions of learning and research with the aim of mainstreaming indigenous women’s issues in academic curricula, assist indigenous women’s organizations in identifying and effectively utilizing available education resources and programmes, and promote capacity-building through fellowships, grants etc.;
f. Build broad-based awareness of indigenous women’s issues by increasing the Forum’s media outreach (e.g., through newsletters, radio, web site, publications in journals on indigenous issues).
To ensure that the concerns and priorities of indigenous women are properly taken into account, the Forum urges States:
a. To take concrete steps to increase the participation of indigenous women in governance and decision-making structures at all levels;
b. To clearly identify and define the issues and needs of indigenous women, taking into account regional and local cultural differences;
c. To develop and strengthen structures and mechanisms for the advancement of indigenous women within the wider agenda for the advancement of women; to clearly define their mandate by taking into account the holistic and cross-cutting nature of indigenous women’s issues; to allocate appropriate resources to those institutions; and to provide support from the national political leadership to those structures;
d. To ensure the implementation of international human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, regarding indigenous women, and to integrate those instruments into the formulation of a coherent national public policy for indigenous women (including legal frameworks, budget allocations and specific programmes and projects addressing indigenous women’s issues);
e. To ensure equal access of indigenous women to decision-making and governmental bodies, political parties, judiciary, trade unions etc.;
f. To lend support to NGOs (both international and national) dealing with issues involving indigenous women;
g. To increase indigenous women’s capacity for decision-making and political participation, and to ensure that adequate numbers of indigenous women are placed in positions of political leadership as well as in governance and public administration.