The Permanent Forum welcomes the approval of the approach to recognizing and working with indigenous and local knowledge adopted at the fifth plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, in 2017, and the establishment of a participatory mechanism for indigenous peoples and local communities in the work of the Platform. The Forum urges the identification of procedures and methodologies for effective implementation of the approach and the participatory mechanism, in partnership with indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session to share with its members the main conclusions and recommendations emanating from the half-day dialogue on the World Conference held by the members of the Forum within the framework of its eleventh session.
The Permanent Forum recommends that intergovernmental organizations such as the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Secretariat of the Ibero-American Summit, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, establish a working group to promote the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Plan of Action of the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People.
The Permanent Forum reiterates the recommendations made in paragraphs 80 and 81 of the report on its eleventh session (E/2012/43-E.C19/2012/13) and invites the indigenous peoples’ caucus and the Indigenous Global Coordinating Group to ensure the equal and inclusive participation of indigenous women, older persons, young people and persons with disabilities in the World Conference and its preparatory processes.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the establishment of the steering committee on indigenous peoples of Africa that consists of the working group on indigenous populations/communities and minorities in Africa as well as interested members of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues. The Forum invites the steering committee to work with the members of the Forum to support the implementation of the system-wide action plan on the rights of indigenous peoples as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the African continent. The Forum also encourages United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to establish a similar inter-agency group in Asia.
The Permanent Forum notes the initiative of the United Nations country team in Nicaragua to establish a consultative committee comprising members of indigenous peoples, Afrodescendants and country team staff, in order to promote and strengthen the realization of the rights and principles set out in international human rights instruments. The Permanent Forum urges other United Nations country teams to follow this example and establish similar consultative mechanisms.
The United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations and donor agencies should implement, at the country level, existing policies on indigenous peoples or develop such policies if they do not exist, and should strengthen the capacity of institutions to implement such policies and programs in an effective and sustainable manner
The Permanent Forum observes that UNDP projects focused on indigenous peoples’ issues are few in number and dispersed, and constitute a very small fraction in the overall UNDP portfolio. This is a serious concern, as indigenous peoples are lagging behind in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and continue to face marginalization and exclusion. The Permanent Forum therefore recommends that UNDP allocate additional resources for projects that are focused on indigenous peoples’ issues and rights, including strengthening the regional programme in Asia and establishing new regional programmes in Latin America and Africa.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations entities review language and terminology on native breeds, local seed varieties and endemic varieties of plants and animals. The Permanent Forum recommends differentiating such terminology from indigenous peoples’ foods, seeds and breeds, by avoiding the use of the term “indigenous” to dispel confusion.
The Permanent Forum considers that the two-day high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples should be held in New York in September 2014, during the week leading up to the opening of the general debate, in order to encourage the highest level of participation of Member States, in particular Heads of State or Government, and with the full participation of indigenous peoples, heads of United Nations organizations, funds and programmes and non-governmental organizations.
In order to mark the expected adoption of the plan of action for the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People by the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, the Permanent Forum decides to organize a special day of discussion on a Program of Action during its fifth session, in 2006, and invites the Coordinator of the Decade and the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat to initiate the awareness-raising campaign of the Second International Decade
The Permanent Forum encourages Member States to review recommendations made at past sessions, renew efforts at their implementation and report on progress made by 2021. It invites the United Nations system to support the States’ efforts in this regard.