It is also vital that Governments recognize indigenous peoples’ institutions, especially their representative institutions. These institutions help promote and protect the cultures, livelihoods, identities and languages of indigenous peoples and other essential elements of their lives. These institutions should be supported and strengthened as essential elements of diverse and multicultural States. The Permanent Forum notes that many Governments already recognize indigenous peoples’ representative institutions at the municipal and national levels. However, they are not yet recognized at the international level.
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.