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.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the work of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues regarding the implementation of the call to action on the theme “Building an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future with Indigenous peoples”, in an effort to revitalize the system-wide action plan on the rights of indigenous peoples. In particular, the Permanent Forum also notes the work being carried out with and by resident coordinators to raise awareness among United Nations country teams. It encourages the Inter-Agency Support Group to continue its work on strengthening the implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights frameworks at the national level and on guaranteeing the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples at the country level.
The Forum recognizes the efforts of the World Bank in the consultation process and the review of its policy on indigenous peoples. The members of the Forum request that the final draft policy be made available to them before its presentation to the Board of the World Bank. The members of the Forum express their great interest in reviewing the draft policy and making recommendations, as well as in meeting with the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank.
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 Forum recognizes the efforts of the World Bank in the consultation process and the review of its policy on indigenous peoples. The members of the Forum request that the final draft policy be made available to them before its presentation to the Board of the World Bank. The members of the Forum express their great interest in reviewing the draft policy and making recommendations, as well as in meeting with the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank.
The Permanent Forum is concerned about reports of UNDP entering into a strategic partnership with the oil company GeoPark, a private entity that has been accused by indigenous communities of disregarding their rights, to carry out economic development activities in Colombia without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous communities that will be affected. This partnership contradicts standard 6 (indigenous peoples) of the UNDP social and environmental standards, and the Forum urges UNDP to suspend all related partnership activities until a proper free, prior and informed consent process can be carried out.
The Permanent Forum requests the Office of the President of the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly to maintain close communication with the Forum, through its secretariat, to facilitate the Forum’s contribution to the preparatory stages of the World Conference. The Forum also requests the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat to provide support to the secretariat of the Forum to carry out its responsibilities in this regard.