The Forum recommends that the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna facilitate the full and effective participation, including funding, of indigenous peoples, particularly women and youth, and the Forum in the work to implement these conventions, and involve them fully in policy formulation and in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of environmental programmes or projects.
Violent conflicts and militarization fundamentally affect the lives of indigenous women and their families and communities, causing violations of their human rights and displacement from their ancestral lands. Yet indigenous women do not see themselves as passive victims but have taken up the roles of mediators and peace builders. Recognizing the profound concerns of the impact of conflict situations on indigenous women, the Forum recommends:
(a) That IOM and other relevant United Nations entities incorporate the needs and priorities of women and girls as ex-combatants in the design and implementation of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, and ensure their full access to all resources and benefits provided in reintegration programmes, including income-generation and skill-development programmes;-
(b) That UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, WHO, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme, and other field-based agencies collect data on the situation of indigenous women living in conflict areas. Such data would be valuable for analysis and programme development;
(c) That IANWGE integrate indigenous women issues into its strategies on women, conflict, peace and security;
(d) That the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other United Nations human rights bodies ensure that statutory provisions prohibiting war crimes and crimes against humanity cover criminal acts perpetrated on a gender basis since their occurrence remains particularly acute, especially the high incidence of mass rape and mutilation during armed conflict;-
(e) That UNHCR give priority to indigenous women and their families who are displaced internally and externally by force due to armed conflict in their territories.