The Permanent Forum urges Member States to contribute support to make possible the annual UNITAR training programme to enhance the conflict prevention and peacemaking capacities of indigenous peoples’ representatives so as to strengthen indigenous capacity to engage in negotiation, dialogue and peace processes to contribute to sustainable peace.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the Intergovernmental Committee to appoint representatives of indigenous peoples as members of any Friends of the Chair groups and as co-chairs of any working groups and drafting groups that may be established by the Committee. It also calls upon the Committee to appoint an indigenous person as a co-chair of the Committee as a whole.
The Forum reiterates its recommendations on economic and social development made at its second session, in particular those contained in chapter I, section B, paragraphs 26-28, 33-34, 36, 39 and 44 of the report.
The Permanent Forum recommends that international financial institutions adopt and incorporate the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent, without qualification, into their safeguard policies and project-related instruments. International financial institutions must ensure that their clients and borrowers engage in processes with indigenous peoples affected by bank-financed projects to secure their free, prior and informed consent.
The Permanent Forum recommends that an expert group meeting on urban indigenous peoples and migration be organized by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in cooperation with the secretariat of the Permanent Forum with the participation of the members of the Permanent Forum, experts from indigenous organizations, the United Nations system and other relevant intergovernmental organizations and interested Governments, for the purpose of formulating recommendations for consideration, as part of its preparatory work for the sixth session. The Permanent Forum requests donors to provide financial resources for this expert group meeting. The Permanent Forum invites the International Organization for Migration to assist in the preparations for this meeting.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Governments and States promote the creation of conditions for indigenous peoples that will enable them to maintain the forests in their traditional way and conserve their cultural identity, with priority accorded to indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, strengthening their capacities and highlighting the value of ancestral knowledge related to native forests. The Forum further recommends that the traditional knowledge and traditional forest management practices and governance systems of indigenous peoples for the protection and use of their forests be recognized in all forest policies and climate-related forest initiatives.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States to contribute support to make possible the annual UNITAR training programme to enhance the conflict prevention and peacemaking capacities of indigenous peoples’ representatives so as to strengthen indigenous capacity to engage in negotiation, dialogue and peace processes to contribute to sustainable peace.
The Forum recommends that United Nations bodies, in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity, in coordination with the World Bank, UNDP, FAO and IFAD, and UNEP, organize a workshop on protecting sacred places and ceremonial sites of indigenous peoples with a view to identifying protective mechanisms and instituting a legal framework that make cultural, environmental and social impact assessments studies mandatory and ensure the environmental accountability of economic, social and environmental projects that are proposed to be conducted on sacred sites and on lands, territories and waters traditionally occupied or used by indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum applauds the historic decision of the United Nations Human Rights Council in recognizing the right to water as a human right, as well as its decision to initiate a study on the scope and content of the relevant human rights obligations related to equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation under international human rights instruments, to be submitted prior to the sixth session of the Council. The Permanent Forum also calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to present to the seventh session of the Permanent Forum the results of her study on the impact on the rights of indigenous peoples in terms of contamination, diversion, appropriation and privatization of water, which is sacred to indigenous peoples and is central to all life.
The Permanent Forum invites the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples to examine and report on the situation of the human rights of indigenous peoples in Non-Self-Governing Territories of the Pacific region, and urges relevant States to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur for that purpose.
The Permanent Forum urges the Nordic States to ratify, as soon as possible, the Nordic Saami Convention, which could set an example for other indigenous peoples whose traditional territories are divided by international borders.
The Permanent Forum reiterates the recommendation, contained in paragraph 17 of the report on its second session (E/2003/43-E/C.19/2003/22), related to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Permanent Forum invites OHCHR, in particular the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, to report on the situation of indigenous children to the Forum at its eleventh session.