The Permanent Forum reaffirms its support for the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, which supports indigenous participation to attend its sessions. The Permanent Forum welcomes the contributions made by donors. It notes that contributions to the fund have fallen drastically in recent years and therefore encourages all Governments and others to contribute generously to the Fund.
The Forum recommends that technical training sessions for indigenous peoples should be promoted and supported and that their employment by data-collection institutions at the national and international levels should be facilitated
The Forum recommends that States where indigenous peoples live formulate and implement public policies with gender and ethnic considerations, taking into account the multicultural and multi-ethnic composition of their populations.
The Permanent Forum urges the relevant Governments of States visited by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people to implement the recommendations contained in his reports regarding mega-projects implemented using the territories, lands and natural resources of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that, in view of the 2015 deadline for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, Member States and the United Nations system make use of the experiences and lessons learned and capture the priorities for development and well-being of indigenous peoples and include indigenous peoples in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Goals.
The Permanent Forum appoints Valmaine Toki to conduct a study on the relationship between indigenous peoples and the Pacific Ocean, taking into account issues of governance, the effects of climate change, deep sea mining, resources and sustainable development.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the renewed political focus on forests stimulated by current policy debates on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change be used towards securing the rights of indigenous peoples living in forests and rewarding their historical stewardship role and continuing conservation and sustainable use of forests. According to the principle of free, prior and informed consent, indigenous peoples must not be excluded from, and should be centrally involved in and benefit from, deciding forest policies and programmes at all levels that deliver justice and equity and contribute to sustainable development, biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The Permanent Forum reiterates its recommendation from 2015 to the Arctic Council and requests all Arctic governments to adopt a comprehensive and long-term strategy for resource extraction in the Arctic region that includes free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples to development projects on their lands and territories or involving their resources. The Forum requests the Arctic Council to provide information on the progress made in the implementation of the recommendation in conjunction with indigenous peoples.
The Forum recommends that the Special Rapporteur on the right to health examine the disparity of health standards for indigenous peoples in developed countries in the light of the fact that United Nations agencies and specialized entities, including WHO, do not undertake health programmes in developed countries.
The Permanent Forum invites UNFPA, in collaboration with the Forum, to identify good practices of culturally appropriate intervention models from its work in developing countries that provide support to indigenous peoples, in particular women and girls, in exercising their health and reproductive rights, and to report to the Forum on those models by 2018.
The Permanent Forum recognizes that, owing to historical and ongoing discriminatory practices in the delivery of healthcare, including in the administration of vaccines, there is distrust that needs to be acknowledged and addressed by governments. Therefore, the Forum recommends that governments collaborate with indigenous peoples’ representatives and leaders, provide culturally appropriate information in indigenous peoples’ languages, engage with indigenous healthcare practitioners and support indigenous peoples’ organizations that are already providing pandemic-related support in their communities.
The Permanent Forum further urges States to improve their collection of data on self-harm and suicide among indigenous children and youth, as well as on violence against indigenous women, boys and girls, to facilitate better understanding of the extent of the problem. States should commit to reducing the incidence of self-harm, violence and suicide among indigenous children and youth through the allocation of adequate resources to holistic prevention and support services, in partnership with indigenous peoples.