The Permanent Forum welcomes the resolution of the seventeenth Ibero-American summit of Heads of State which calls for a world conference on indigenous peoples, to be organized by the United Nations, and urges States to support this initiative at the General Assembly level.
The Forum invites the agencies and Governments submitting contributions also to indicate in future the challenges that they face in the implementation of the Forum's recommendations
The Permanent Forum appreciates the efforts made by El Salvador, Guatemala and Paraguay to develop national action plans in consultation with indigenous peoples and encourages them to share best practices. It further encourages Member States to continue to effectively engage with indigenous peoples at the national, local and community levels to develop and implement national action plans, strategies or other measures to achieve the ends of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In the discussion on reconciliation and intergenerational trauma, there was agreement that healing requires a return to culture and a relationship with the land. The Permanent Forum recommends that Governments support programmes led by indigenous peoples to address intergenerational trauma as a way of moving towards true reconciliation.
The Forum expresses its support for the work of the Board of Trustees and the Advisory Group of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations and the United Nations Trust Fund for the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, urges Governments, non-governmental organizations and other private or public entities and individuals to contribute to the funds and supports the continuation of the activities of the Board of Trustees and Advisory Group of both Funds, which are considered a vital support to indigenous communities worldwide.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States, owing to the threat of biopiracy and the pharmaceutical industry, develop legislative measures, with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, to protect traditional medicine and knowledge, and to secure the rights of indigenous peoples to intellectual property.
The Permanent Forum calls on the Government of Canada to fully implement the recommendations emanating from its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Permanent Forum calls on the United States of America to formalize the establishment of a truth and reconciliation mechanism on the boarding school crisis.
The Permanent Forum again urges Member States to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are afforded full and effective participation in all planning and policy development to address climate change. Indigenous-led climate change policies incorporate the vital knowledge of Indigenous Peoples for land management and stewardship of natural resources while protecting health, equity, justice and sustainability. Principles of free, prior and informed consent must be followed in the development of all climate change policies and actions.
The Permanent Forum welcomes that, as of 3 November 2022, the term “Indigenous Peoples” is capitalized in the United Nations Editorial Manual. That update was made in accordance with an agreement made among the Member States when negotiating General Assembly resolution 77/203. The Permanent Forum urges that translation in all official languages of the United Nations reflect that update to the Editorial Manual.
The Permanent Forum urges the States members of the World Intellectual Property Organization to ensure the full participation of Indigenous People, including developing safeguards to protect their knowledge and adopting a treaty to protect Indigenous Peoples’ genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge and medicine, at the Diplomatic Conference on Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge to be held in 2024.
The Forum calls upon international financial institutions to align policies and safeguards with the Declaration.