The Permanent Forum welcomes the fact that the principles and rules contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have been integrated into the new constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, which was ratified in a referendum held on 25 January 2009.
The Permanent Forum urges all agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system to incorporate the recognition of the collective rights of indigenous peoples to lands, territories and resources into their policies and programmes at the country level and to report to the Forum on progress made at its eighteenth session.
The Forum invites the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, within the purview of his mandate, to pay special attention to and make recommendations concerning the rights of indigenous children.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth, in cooperation with indigenous young people, urgently address self-harm and suicide among indigenous young people and invites him to inform the Forum on progress in that regard at its fifteenth session.
The Permanent Forum expresses concern for the state of the world’s indigenous languages. It is estimated that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 oral languages in the world today, most of them spoken by very few individuals. The Forum recommends the adoption of a rights-based approach towards indigenous language issues that considers the full spectrum of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Declaration. The Forum also recommends that Member States, the United Nations system, indigenous peoples’ organizations and other stakeholders share initiatives and strategies undertaken for, with and by indigenous peoples in order to recover, use and revitalize indigenous languages, including through the use of information and communication technologies.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States and funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations system to implement action to reduce maternal mortality among indigenous women. The Forum recommends that the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women publish a factsheet, in collaboration with the Forum, on indigenous women’s maternal mortality and maternal health, with the aim of reducing maternal mortality and promoting sexual and reproductive health.
The Permanent Forum urges the Secretary-General to appoint a special envoy on indigenous languages, in consultation with indigenous peoples.
The impact of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals on indigenous peoples should be assessed and reported in Millennium Development Goals country reports and other relevant reports by States and the United Nations system. Progressive assessment of the situation of indigenous peoples in the process of implementation of the Millennium Development Goals should be reflected in the Millennium Development Goals country reports. Guidelines for the preparation of the Millennium Development Goals reports should be refined to ensure that the coverage of the poverty situation of indigenous peoples is integrated. The Millennium Development Goals country reports should be prepared, where relevant, with the full participation of indigenous peoples.
Bearing in mind that the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was named at a time when the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples had not yet been adopted, and considering that the title of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples was changed, two years ago, from its previous title of “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people”, we strongly urge the Economic and Social Council to recommend that the name of the Forum be changed to “Permanent Forum on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the ratification on 15 April 2021 by the Bundestag of Germany of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and reiterates its recommendation to all Member States that have not ratified said Convention to do so as early as possible.
The Forum calls for the dissemination and full implementation of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur's reports on the relationships of indigenous peoples and land rights, and on permanent sovereignty of indigenous peoples over their natural resources and invites the Special Rapporteur, through the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, to present an updated report at the next session of the Forum
The Permanent Forum expresses its readiness to examine existing practices and
ways of developing various forms of administrative and territorial autonomy for
indigenous peoples’ communities whose representatives lead a traditional, nomadic
way of life, as part of the development of the guiding principles on indigenous
peoples’ autonomy and self-government as recommended in the study on indigenous
peoples’ autonomies: experiences and perspectives (E/C.19/2020/5). Such work will
be conducted by an online working group of the Permanent Forum. Indigenous
peoples’ organizations, representative decision-making bodies and institutions,
together with United Nations system entities, Member States and other stakeholders,
are invited to contribute financially and practically and to take an active part in the
work of the working group.