The Permanent Forum welcomes the efforts of the indigenous Global Coordinating Group to respond to the request of the President of the General Assembly as its sixty-eighth session, which concluded with the nomination of two indigenous advisers. The Forum urges the President of the sixty-eighth session to formalize their designation so as to start the consultation process on the high-level plenary meeting/World Conference on Indigenous Peoples as soon as possible, by June.
The Forum recognizes the efforts of the World Bank in the consultation process and the review of its policy on indigenous peoples. The members of the Forum request that the final draft policy be made available to them before its presentation to the Board of the World Bank. The members of the Forum express their great interest in reviewing the draft policy and making recommendations, as well as in meeting with the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank.
The Forum recognizes the efforts of the World Bank in the consultation process and the review of its policy on indigenous peoples. The members of the Forum request that the final draft policy be made available to them before its presentation to the Board of the World Bank. The members of the Forum express their great interest in reviewing the draft policy and making recommendations, as well as in meeting with the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank.
The Forum recommends the designation of focal points in the United Nations country teams or the country offices of United Nations agencies, funds and programs, with a mandate to deal with indigenous issues, inter alia, to follow-up on the implementation of recommendations of the Forum, and the objectives of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Secretary-General, in his report on the study of violence against women, address the particular situation of indigenous women and girls whose suffering is based not only on gender but also on ethnicity and culture.
The Permanent Forum continues to be deeply disturbed by the threats that the extractive industries, infrastructure megaprojects, such as roads and dams, legal and illegal logging, and the expansion of large-scale agriculture pose to the indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact. While recognizing the guidelines for the protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the Americas prepared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the corresponding guidelines elaborated by OHCHR, the Permanent Forum recommends that OHCHR, in cooperation with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and with the participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations, evaluate the progress made, identify implementation gaps and make recommendations to advance the protection of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact and to guarantee their rights.
Post-pandemic recovery efforts have exacerbated human rights violations against indigenous peoples across Asia. Governments have used economic recovery plans as a justification to seize indigenous lands for the purposes of resource extraction, and indigenous environmental defenders are often threatened and arrested. The Permanent Forum calls on Member States to guarantee the principles of free, prior and informed consent throughout its post-pandemic recovery efforts to ensure that the socioeconomic development of indigenous territories is implemented in full cooperation with indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the intent of Nicaragua in drafting legislation on territorial regulation of Indigenous territories. The Permanent Forum urges Nicaragua to establish dialogue with the legitimate Indigenous authorities to initiate and conclude drafting of the legislation as soon as possible, in order to prevent repetition of the recent gross human rights violations against the Mayangna Sauni and Wilu communities, allegedly committed by armed settlers. It further urges Nicaragua to ensure that perpetrators are held to account through the justice system for the murders committed and for the destruction of property. Impunity is not an option.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States and financial institutions to enhance direct financial support for Indigenous Peoples-led projects with funding mechanisms that are equitable, non-discriminatory, accessible, flexible and responsive to Indigenous Peoples’ self-determined priorities across all seven sociocultural regions, without political impediments that could obstruct fair resource allocation. Such support should empower Indigenous Peoples to manage their environmental resources and engage in sustainable economic activities without reliance on intermediaries.