The Permanent Forum welcomes the activities carried out by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean through its Centre for Latin American Demography — Population Division, in particular its adoption of a rights-based approach that considers indigenous peoples’ individual and collective rights included in the 2006 edition of the Social Panorama. The Forum recommends that the Commission:(a)Increase the number of sociodemographic studies of indigenous peoples, especially those addressing urbanization and migration and their effects on indigenous peoples;(b)Continue to develop a system of sociodemographic indicators on the indigenous peoples of Latin America, in cooperation with the Fondo Indígena, indigenous peoples’ organizations and United Nations agencies;(c)Support production of information by countries on indigenous peoples with reference to access to, quality and cultural relevance of social services, guaranteeing the full participation of indigenous peoples in this process;(d)Organize an expert group meeting to prepare operative recommendations to improve the identification of indigenous peoples in the upcoming 2010 round of censuses and other data sources, ensuring the full participation of indigenous peoples in this process;(e)Produce technical studies and recommendations to States on human rights-based public policies on indigenous peoples in cooperation with the specialized agencies of the United Nations.
The Permanent Forum also notes the International Expert Group Meeting on Urban Indigenous Peoples and Migration, held in Chile in March 2007, and expresses its appreciation to the Government of Canada for providing funding to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean for hosting the event. It also recommends that States, United Nations and civil society organizations and other stakeholders contribute to the implementation of the recommendations contained in the above-mentioned publication.
The Permanent Forum recommends that urban indigenous issues be given important consideration on the agenda of the fourth session of the World Urban Forum, and notes the organization by UN-Habitat of a round-table event on this theme. The Forum urges States, United Nations agencies and indigenous peoples’ organizations to cooperate with UN-Habitat in the lead up to this and other events at the fourth session, including through input and participation.