Recalling the international expert Workshop on Data Collection and Disaggregation for Indigenous Peoples (see E/C.19/2004/2, for the report thereon), the Forum welcomes the collaboration with the United Nations Statistics Division in reviewing national practices in data collection and dissemination in the areas of ethnicity, language and religion and looks forward to the Demographic Yearbook special topic which will include data and analysis relevant to indigenous peoples. The Forum is also pleased to note that data on national and/or ethnic groups are being made available online by the Statistics Division at the following website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybcens.htm
In light of this work, as well as the 2010 World Population and Housing Census Program, the Forum supports the Statistics Division in: (a) continuing its work in reviewing national practices in data collection and dissemination on issues relevant to indigenous peoples; (b) considering the extent to which the revision of the Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses can further address national and international data needs by facilitating the collection of data on indigenous peoples; c) Continuing to follow the recommendations of the international expert Workshop on Data Collection and Disaggregation for Indigenous Peoples; (d) Strengthening user-producer consultation in data collection and dissemination efforts
Take into account the full diversity and demographic profile of indigenous communities, including gender, children, youth and aged persons, peoples with disabilities, nomadic, semi-nomadic and migrating peoples, peoples in transition, displaced persons, indigenous peoples in urban areas, and particularly vulnerable groups of indigenous peoples
The Permanent Forum welcomes the decision by FAO to observe an International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026 and encourages Member States to support the participation of indigenous peoples in events leading up to the year.
The Forum recommends that the World Conservation Union Congress, to be held in November 2004 in Bangkok, endorse the recommendations on indigenous peoples and protected areas, as well as other relevant recommendations (such as on sacred sites) adopted by the Fifth World Parks Congress. It should also emphasize the need for the recognition of community conserved areas and indigenous peoples’ protected areas, the need for the full respect for indigenous peoples’ rights and the need for indigenous peoples’ free prior informed consent to be obtained before the declaration or in the management of any protected area which may affect them.
The Permanent Forum applauds the effective participation mechanisms for indigenous peoples in such mechanisms as the Convention on Biological Diversity Working Group on article 8 (j) and related provisions, and recommends that, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, such practices be extended to all critical areas of interest to indigenous peoples, such as the Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing and in particular the Working Group on Protected Areas.
The Permanent Forum learned of the threat posed to the health of indigenous peoples by four non-communicable diseases — diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and chronic lung disease — and their common risk factors. The Permanent Forum welcomes the organization of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and requests that representatives of indigenous peoples be invited to contribute to and participate in the meeting, as well as the interactive hearings with civil society scheduled for June 2011.
The Forum urges States to undertake and promote the expansion of their national health systems in order to provide holistic health programmes for indigenous children that incorporate preventive medical practices and family and community participation. States are urged to address the issues of malnutrition of indigenous children victimized by poverty by adopting special measures to ensure and protect the cultivation of traditional food crops.
The Permanent Forum notes the increasing incidence of tuberculosis among indigenous peoples, rates which are up to 20 to 30 times higher than those of non indigenous communities. The Forum supports the proposal by the Assembly of First Nations in Canada and the Stop TB Partnership to hold an expert group meeting on the global situation of indigenous peoples with tuberculosis, which should include indigenous health experts, and encourages the organizers to invite members of the Forum.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Government of Paraguay should make resolute progress towards the development of a land registry that will facilitate land titling, and thus the recovery of land by indigenous communities and the territorial reconstitution of their respective peoples.
On the basis of information received at its second session, the Forum expresses its deep concern about the reported atrocities committed against the Pygmy people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Kuna people of Panama, and atrocities committed against indigenous peoples in other regions of the world. It urges the entire United Nations system as well as the appropriate bodies to take appropriate action.
The Permanent Forum urges States, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, to develop and implement specific laws and mechanisms to protect indigenous human rights defenders, to ensure that attacks against them are investigated and that those persons responsible are held accountable.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council authorize at least one more session of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations so that it can review and, as needed, complete its important work.