The Permanent Forum notes the progress made by the UNDP Regional Initiative on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Development and the ILO Programme to Promote ILO Convention No. 169 (PRO-169) projects in the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples. The Forum welcomes the decision by UNDP to establish a similar programme in Latin America and calls on UNDP to expand its activities in this manner in Africa.
The Permanent Forum recommends that in the case of projects affecting indigenous peoples, States ensure that transnational corporations and other business enterprises comply with specific standards contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention No. 169.
Aware of the massive exodus of indigenous youth to the alien environments of cities around the world and the discrimination, socio-economic hardships, weakened family networks and drug abuse, inter alia, affecting those youngsters and "street children", the Forum requests the World Bank, the ILO and UNICEF to conduct an in-depth comparative study of legal frameworks and social programmes addressing indigenous urban youth in selected countries. The study should assess key problems and best practices and should provide recommendations for the formulation of policies and strategies for future action.
The Forum, to underscore its long-term commitment to the issue of "indigenous women", recommends that its secretariat:
a. Assist IANWGE in its efforts to mainstream indigenous women’s issues throughout the United Nations system;
b. Strengthen liaison with the Forum’s portfolio holders in order to provide feedback on indigenous women’s issues in each of the mandated areas to the Forum;
c. Promote the monitoring and reporting on the implementation process of programmes within the United Nations system designed to address indigenous women’s issues and the assessment of their impact;
d. Increase outreach to indigenous women’s groups and assist them in networking and information-sharing;
e. Create strong liaison relationship with universities and other institutions of learning and research with the aim of mainstreaming indigenous women’s issues in academic curricula, assist indigenous women’s organizations in identifying and effectively utilizing available education resources and programmes, and promote capacity-building through fellowships, grants etc.;
f. Build broad-based awareness of indigenous women’s issues by increasing the Forum’s media outreach (e.g., through newsletters, radio, web site, publications in journals on indigenous issues).
Member States, the United Nations system, bodies and funds should consider the definitions of extreme poverty by indigenous peoples and in this regard should refer to the report of the independent expert on human rights and extreme poverty (E/CN.4/2005/49). Poverty indicators based on indigenous peoples' own perception of their situation and experiences should be developed, jointly with indigenous peoples.
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 requests ILO, IFAD and the United Nations Development Programme to prepare a study, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, summarizing the experience of implementing programmes for indigenous peoples on socioeconomic development, focussing on best practices in entrepreneurship and creative industries, and to present it to the Permanent Forum at its twenty -third session, to be held in 2024.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States, international organizations and the United Nations system to support, financially and by other means, the strengthening of the Ibero-American Institute of Indigenous Languages, which aims to guarantee the exercise of the cultural and linguistic rights recognized in, inter alia, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No.169).
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.