The 2030 Agenda is now in its fourth year of implementation, yet few countries refer to indigenous peoples in their voluntary national reviews. The Permanent Forum therefore urges countries undertaking voluntary national reviews at the high-level political forum on sustainable development to include indigenous peoples under all Sustainable Development Goals.
Recognizing the important partnership of WIPO and the Forum, the Forum makes the following recommendations to further this working relationship:
(a) The Forum strongly encourages representatives of indigenous peoples and local communities to participate actively in the work of WIPO in relation to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions/ folklore, in particular through the submission of comments, case studies and position papers, including on the new WIPO web page established for this purpose;
(b) The Forum calls upon WIPO and member States, funds, foundations and other donors to provide funding to facilitate the participation of indigenous peoples, local communities and the Forum in sessions of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore and in related consultations, caucuses, briefings and workshops;
(c) The Forum recommends that, under the auspices of the Forum and in partnership with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, WIPO develop, in close consultation with indigenous peoples and local communities, the Forum and other organizations and stakeholders, as appropriate, guidelines, ethical codes of conduct, best practices and practical guides relating to intellectual property issues and the access to and use of traditional cultural expressions and knowledge by, among others, commercial users, ethnologists, folklorists and anthropologists, and museums and archives;
(d) The Forum confirms its readiness and willingness to provide expert input to the work of WIPO on intellectual property, traditional knowledge and folklore, such as its work on studying how customary and indigenous laws and protocols could be recognized and applied within national, regional and international systems for the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the recent decision to establish an Ibero-American Institute of Indigenous Languages, with the support of the Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean and member States of the region, within the framework of the XXVII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Soldeu, Andorra, in April 2021, and encourages other regions to follow this initiative.
The Forum urges Governments, in addressing economic and social development issues, to make efforts to adopt general strategies that include considerations for the needs and rights of indigenous peoples in the policies, laws and administrative issues that affect them, and they should include participation and consultations with indigenous peoples. Governments should also consider implementing special policies directed to employment creation for indigenous peoples, facilitating access to credit and the creation of small and medium-sized businesses.
The Forum notes that there is a need for capacity-building in national and local government as well indigenous communities in the areas within the Forum’s mandate, and recommends that various parts of the United Nations system, including the International Labour Organization and the secretariat of the Forum, cooperate to provide technical assistance in that regard at the request of Governments and indigenous communities.
The Forum also notes with concern that the World Bank’s operational policies, including its policy on indigenous peoples, have limited application, covering only investment lending and not other Bank operations. The Forum recommends that the outcome target of the Bank’s process to review and update its safeguards be a set of safeguards and follow-up mechanisms covering all finance instruments and all other Bank operations.
The Forum recommends that a meeting of international financial institutions be convened, with the
participation of the Forum, to consider issues related to their policies, procedures and relationships concerning indigenous peoples, and that a report of the meeting be prepared for consideration at
The Permanent Forum urges indigenous peoples’ organizations and academic institutions, in particular indigenous peoples’ universities, to prepare thematic studies, within the mandate areas of the Forum, as a contribution to the preparatory processes leading up to the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in 2014.
The Permanent Forum calls upon Member States to start the work, in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, of creating a place and a voice for indigenous peoples in the governance of the world’s oceans. This effort involves the participation of indigenous peoples in all aspects of the work and decision-making regarding the Convention on the Law of the Sea, including the environmental provisions and the delimitation of the continental shelf. It may also include establishing advisory committees of indigenous peoples to guide the work under the Convention, as has been done under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
This dialogue follows on the international expert group meeting on the theme “Conservation and the rights of indigenous peoples” (E/C.19/2019/7). The Permanent Forum endorses the recommendations from the meeting and urges States, conservation organizations, indigenous peoples and United Nations entities to work together in implementing the recommendations.
The Permanent Forum recommends following the example of indigenous peoples, who have been the stewards of the land and sea for millenniums. When allocating research and development funding and setting the criteria for clean development mechanism projects, policymakers at the State and multilateral levels must look beyond the simple question of whether a particular form of alternative energy or carbon absorption technique can provide a short-term reduction in greenhouse gases. Policymakers should consider the long-term sustainability of any mitigation policy they choose.
The Forum, noting the future mandate of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore to be considered by the Committee at its session to be held in July 2003, expresses the wish that the mandate of the Committee should have as its clear objective the continued development of mechanisms, systems and tools that adequately protect the genetic resources, traditional knowledge and expressions of culture of indigenous peoples at the national, regional and international levels. The Forum affirms its willingness to contribute its expertise and experience to the work of the Committee and to play a consultative role in assisting mechanisms that may be established by member States of WIPO, and urges the Committee to assist two Forum members in participating systematically and effectively in the process by establishing a special fund.