Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by Member States in 2015, the Permanent Forum has repeatedly highlighted the importance of ensuring the meaningful and full participation of indigenous peoples in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Unfortunately, the world is not on track to meet globally agreed targets. This has been particularly evident during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which existing inequities have been exacerbated, placing the survival of indigenous peoples at greater risk. During the pandemic, indigenous peoples, in particular indigenous women and girls, have not only been left behind, but have been left even further behind.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the General Assembly rename the Decade “Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples”.
Recognizing the central role of public and indigenous peoples’ education
systems, the Permanent Forum recommends that Member States collect disaggregated
data, within the next two years, on the number of indigenous students who attend
kindergartens, small ungraded schools, nomadic schools and boarding schools across
the regions to secure opportunities for children to remain in their communities.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the study on Indigenous determinants of health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (E/C.19/2023/5), presented at its twenty-second session. The Permanent Forum calls upon Member States and United Nations entities, particularly WHO, to adopt indigeneity as an overarching determinant of health, including in relation to the relevant Sustainable Development Goals and in policies and practices across the United Nations system.
The Permanent Forum reiterates that the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline jeopardizes the Great Lakes and poses a real and credible threat to the human rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and the United States. The Forum reiterates its call for Canada and the United States to decommission Line 5.