The Permanent Forum recommends that the efforts undertaken to develop the indicators of sustainability and well-being of indigenous peoples should be continued and supported by States, the United Nations system and intergovernmental bodies. This will lead to the establishment of headline indicators to measure and represent the goals and aspirations of indigenous peoples. These initiatives should lead to the creation of an indigenous peoples development index, which the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) would adopt as a project to be included in future issues of the Human Development Report.
The Permanent Forum suggests that the Human Rights Committee also interpret the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights taking into account the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In particular, the Committee should review its General Comment No. 12 (1984) on the right to self-determination (article 1 of the Covenant) and No. 23 (1994) on the rights of persons belonging to minorities (article 27 of the Covenant) taking into account article 3 and other relevant provisions of the Declaration. In addition, in accordance with the terms of General Comment No. 12, the Committee should request State parties to the Covenant to report on their compliance with their obligations regarding the right of all peoples, including indigenous peoples, to self-determination and related rights. The Committee should request that State parties prepare the relevant sections of their reports on the implementation of the Covenant in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum notes that 2010 is the review year for the Beijing Platform for Action and for the Millennium Development Goals. Fifteen years after Beijing and 10 years after the Millennium Summit, the situations of poverty faced by indigenous peoples, and their lack of access to basic services like health and education, especially among women, remain pervasive. The Forum reiterates and reaffirms the Beijing Declaration of Indigenous Women as a key tool for achieving the Millennium Development Goals with respect to indigenous women and their communities while advancing commitments to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Forum calls on Governments and United Nations agencies to provide space for indigenous peoples, especially indigenous women, in the different processes leading to the review of the Beijing Platform for Action and the review of the Millennium Development Goals to be undertaken at the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly in September 2010.